July Newsletter

GOVERNMENT
MAKING
A
difference
A LETTER FROM CITY MANAGER JOHN JACKSON
AND CHIEF OF POLICE DUSTIN VARNEY
THE GREENWOOD VILLAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT
The issues that we are facing as a Nation, and as a community, are both complex and complicated. The City of Greenwood
Village staff is focused on providing a quality of life for its residents that is unmatched. To accomplish this we place a high value
on hiring the right people as well as providing them with the training they need to do their jobs effectively and safely. The recent
videos and complaints brought against law enforcement officers around the country for excessive force, some even resulting in
death, are disturbing. These unfortunate actions of a select few have caused necessary discussions and immediate actions to take
place in both cities across the country and very close to home. These actions
will be viewed in different ways, but the one lens that we would like to focus on
in this article is how our police department will continue to police and provide
services to the City of Greenwood Village.
• First and foremost, Greenwood Village Police Officers will continue treating
all people fairly and with dignity. There is no more important aspect in
modern policing than earning the trust of the people we serve.
• The City of Greenwood Village will continue to annually provide our police
officers with high quality training which includes anti-bias based policing
and diversity inclusion that provides them with the level of skills we believe
are core to being a professional law enforcement officer.
City Manager John Jackson
Police Chief Dustin Varney
• The Greenwood Village Police Department will continue providing services with a sustained focus on community policing
that fosters relationships and establishes a positive influence on the people and organizations with which we interact.
• The Greenwood Village Police Department will continue maintaining functional and sound operating policies that are current
with the best law enforcement practices. From this, our department is an agency that’s accredited by the Colorado Association
of Chiefs of Police (CACP). This accreditation comes with a level of scrutiny that mandates we review our operating policies
annually to verify that they are current, applied properly and enforced to maintain our certification.
The new Enhanced Law Enforcement Integrity law was passed toward the end of the 2020 Legislative Session. Most of the
initiatives in this new law were already standard operating policy for the Greenwood Village Police Department as evidenced by a
review of the Use of Force policy by which the Greenwood Village Police Department operates. In addition, we have made
enhancements to further clarify important details and have full intention of complying with the body camera mandate for all
uniformed police officers in the near future.
The single most important aspect our department and officers can convey is that we all are committed to the value of human life.
Our police department is committed to continuing to make sound decisions with hiring, training, professionalism and legal
accountability in all that we do.
Chief Dustin Varney
City Manager John Jackson
JULY 2020 | GV NEWSLETTER PG. 7