Police Department Purchases Off-Highway Vehicle to Patrol Town’s Open Spaces
Trevor Phipps
Earlier this year, the Woodland Park Police Department touted the addition of a new off-highway vehicle (OHV) to add to its fleet, as an effort to better patrol the area’s burgeoning recreation spots, many of which are now owned and controlled by the city.
Due to the addition of new open space properties across the city, including the Avenger Open Space and sections of the Shining Mountain Golf Course, the police needed a vehicle that would allow them access to trails and other areas with rough terrain.
Woodland Park Police Chief Chris Deisler made the decision to purchase the new elaborate Polaris OHV that seats five people last summer. On August 5, the police department made a social media post to show off their new ride, conducting patrols on a trail inside the Avenger Open Space.
However, after the police department made the purchase, they realized one slight legal problem. Due to city ordinances, they weren’t allowed to drive these vehicles on city streets. That meant that law enforcement agents had to bring these OHVs vehicles to trail areas on trailers in order to use them.
Needless to say, this could turn into a logistic nightmare.
The police chief then decided to go to city council to make a change to the ordinance. Then on October 1, the city council voted unanimously to allow the police department to drive OHVs on city streets to conduct routine patrols.
According to Woodland Park’s city attorney, state law doesn’t allow OHVs on public roadways. But there is a stipulation in the law that allows municipalities to make changes to allow OHVs on city and county roads. For example, Cripple Creek and Victor have legalized the use of OHVs on all city streets.
However, unlike Cripple Creek and Victor, the new law will only allow police to drive OHVs on city streets. Prior to this change, the police department could have still used an OHV for emergencies, but now they can use it for routine patrols they conduct.
“In anticipation of this, we recently had it outfitted with proper signaling equipment,” Chief Deisler told the city council. “So now it has proper lighting, signaling, turn signals and so forth for proper operation and setting the example.”
Woodland Park Mayor George Jones asked if the new ordinance would include state highways. The police chief replied that the ordinance would not include Hwys. 67 and 24. But the police would be able to cross these roads, while using their off-highway vehicle. Deisler said police officers plan to use the city’s back roads to traverse through town when conducting patrols on their new OHV vehicle.
Not For Fun and Games
Mayor Pro Tem Catherine Nakai cleared up the fact that the ordinance was strictly drafted so that the police didn’t have to trailer these vehicles into trail areas, and that it wasn’t “to just drive around and have fun.”
“No, this is a bonafide piece of equipment that will be operated in a way that’s consistent with normal duty,” Deisler said in response to Nakai. “If we have to do some duty patrol with it then fine, but it’s not to just you know ‘run for the milk.’”
When the police department purchased the OHV they were thinking about situations that could arise in the future. They made sure that the Polaris OHV came equipped with the ability to have a snowplow.
The city purchased a snowplow to go with it that can now aid them in emergency situations when there is snow on the ground. During a snowstorm or emergency situation, the OHV will be able to plow tighter spots than city plows, or what other equipment can do. Overall, the OHV allows the police to provide law enforcement service to areas that other vehicles can’t access.
“We definitely look at it as an acquisition for equipment as a tool, and this is not something to just go have fun with,” Deisler said. “It does give us a service imprint that just widens our ability to get to places we need to go.”
The new equipment also features extra uses for the agency.
Besides using the OHV for patrols or calls for service in the city’s open spaces, the new addition to the police fleet will help serve citizens in the case of severe weather events, such as blizzards or floods. “I don’t want to have to be in the position where I have to explain why we can’t get to certain remote areas and get people out of their homes, like some of us experienced in the county a couple of years ago,” the police chief said. “It was just a bad time and anything we can do to stay ahead of that curve, that’s where my mindset is.
The chief was referring to a previous spring blizzard that shut the area down for days, even resulting in a few deaths. Some parts of the county received accumulation levels that shattered previous records, with a few local areas getting hit with five-feet-plus of snow. Most residents were stuck for days and some elderly folks encountered medical emergencies. It turned into the “Perfect Storm” for probable disasters.
Although the OHV will be used strictly for police business, the police chief quipped that he would drive it to a city council meeting show off the vehicle to elected leaders (if the ordinance gets approved). Many residents also are curious about the agency’s new recreational off-road vehicle and would probably enjoy partaking in the display.
