Platform

Core Principles

Law enforcement must be effective, efficient, and fair to everyone. These three goals depend on each other. We must be fair and just for our neighbors to see us as legitimate. We need the community's support to be effective at preventing crime, not merely responding to it. Modernizing how we work lets us do more with limited resources and cover a large county without breaking the bank.

The Sheriff's Office is not a partisan office. Mark will serve every resident of Park County the same way, regardless of politics.

Patrol Coverage and Response Times

Park County stretches from the Platte Canyon communities along US 285 to the South Park basin and down to Guffey and Lake George. Too often, a single deputy has to cover huge distances, and residents on one side of the county can wait a long time for help.

• Around-the-clock patrol. Deputies on duty 24/7, with shift schedules built around when calls actually come in.
• Deputies assigned by area. Deputies assigned to regular areas, so residents know their deputies and deputies know the roads, the ranches, and the neighborhoods.
• Both sides of the county. Balanced staffing between the Bailey substation and Fairplay, with regular office hours in outlying communities.
• Measured and published. Response times reported by area, so everyone can see whether coverage is improving.

Staffing, Training, and Retention

We need our deputies to be members of our community. That means paying a competitive salary, offering outstanding training and career development, and building a culture where deputies are proud of their work and their contribution to the county.

When pay falls below neighboring agencies, experienced deputies leave, and the county pays again and again to recruit and train their replacements, plus overtime to cover the gaps. Keeping good people is cheaper than replacing them.

• A pay study comparing Park County with neighboring departments, and a multi-year plan to close the gap
• Housing help for deputies, working with the county and local partners
• Clear promotion paths and high-quality training, including de-escalation, crisis intervention, and rural emergency medicine
• Full support for the dispatchers, detention deputies, and civilian staff who keep the office running

Budget

The Sheriff's Office budget has been a problem for years. Mark will work openly with the County Commissioners to fund public safety at an appropriate level and to show taxpayers exactly what they get for their money.

Grants can help strengthen staffing and training, but they are uncertain and are not a long-term fix for a growing county. Mark will pursue them aggressively while building a sustainable, transparent budget that the public can follow.

Wildfire and Emergency Management

Wildfire is one of the biggest threats Park County faces. Mark has spent years building incident-command and mass-casualty training for first responders, and he will make emergency readiness a core mission.

• Evacuation plans updated and exercised with fire districts, the Office of Emergency Management, and neighboring counties
• Reliable emergency alerts, with a push to get every resident signed up
• Clear, consistent communication about fire restrictions

Search & Rescue

Park County Search & Rescue volunteers bring people home from the 14ers, the backcountry, and the reservoirs. Mark will be a strong partner, working to secure training, equipment, and funding, and making sure the volunteers have what they need.

The Jail

The jail must be safe for staff and inmates, meet constitutional and state standards, and be run cost-effectively. Mark will review jail operations, staffing, and medical care, and look for proven ways to reduce repeat offending, such as treatment and re-entry planning, that also reduce long-term costs to taxpayers.

Mental Health and Crisis Response

Many calls involve someone in a mental-health or substance-use crisis. Pairing deputies with trained crisis clinicians, in person or by phone, gets people the right help, frees deputies for law enforcement work, and reduces injuries to everyone. Mark will pursue a co-responder program using state and federal grants.

Fentanyl and Drug Enforcement

Fentanyl is killing people in rural Colorado too. Mark will focus enforcement on the people who traffic drugs into our communities, work with regional task forces, keep naloxone in every patrol car, and connect people struggling with addiction to treatment.

Technology, with Your Privacy Protected

Mark has spent his career applying analytics and AI to investigations. Used well, these tools help a small office solve more cases and put deputies where they're needed. Used carelessly, they can intrude on law-abiding residents.

• Modern records, dispatch, and data tools to make the most of every deputy's time
• Written, public policies for any surveillance technology, covering what is collected, how long it's kept, and who can see it
• No mass surveillance of law-abiding residents

Transparency and Accountability

Residents deserve to know how their Sheriff's Office is performing. Mark will publish regular reports on response times, staffing, overtime, and spending. He will answer questions in public forums in every part of the county, and he will welcome independent review.

Evidence-Based Policy

Peer-reviewed research and proven practice can show us how to break out of old patterns. Mark will use what works to provide safety and security to every community in the county without breaking the bank. See the resources that inform his approach.