Colorado Department of Public Safety
Governor Bill Ritter's Colorado Promise includes the promise of keeping our citizens and visitors safe and the promise of pursuing this goal using the most cost-effective approaches possible.

I am pleased to welcome you to one of the nation’s safest states, with an extraordinarily safe highway system, safe communities and unusually strong partnerships among more than 300 local law enforcement agencies.

The Department of Public Safety encompasses these divisions:

  • Colorado State Patrol, ensuring safety on state highways
  • Colorado Bureau of Investigation, assisting local police departments and sheriffs in criminal investigations
  • Division of Criminal Justice, helping communities identify and prevent safety issues
  • Division of Fire Safety, helping train firefighters and
  • Office of Preparedness and Security, keeping watch over the state’s safety.

In the coming months, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation will complete construction of a new center in Grand Junction. With construction now under way, the new Grand Junction center should be completed by the spring of 2008.

Colorado’s banking and financial services leaders are working closely with CBI to launch a new identity theft and fraud unit early in 2007.

The Colorado State Patrol led the state’s remarkable improvements in traffic safety during the last three years, recording the nation’s greatest reductions in traffic fatalities among states. Figures for 2006 reflect a continuing trend of improvement while the nation experienced additional traffic deaths. CSP’s accomplishments result from targeting sections of highway with the highest rates of unsafe driver behavior.

The Division of Criminal Justice continues to provide nationally recognized leadership in sex offender management, crime victim services and alternatives to costly incarceration. DCJ research offers Colorado communities scientifically based approaches for managing sex offenders. With the costs of incarcerating offenders of concern to every state, DCJ strategies can guide criminal justice system policy for controlling costs.

Response to Colorado’s harsh winter storms of 2006 and 2007 drew upon the Division of Fire Safety’s Emergency Resource Mobilization Plan to help southeast Colorado deal with the needs of communities, farms and ranches following devastating blizzards. The Emergency Resource Mobilization Plan includes an Internet based inventory of emergency response equipment and helps emergency managers get equipment where it is needed. DFS updates the inventory continuously.

The Office of Preparedness and Security handled 166 reports of suspicious activity in 2006 and continues to serve as a key component of Colorado’s early warning system for potential terrorist activity and communications needs. The Colorado Information Analysis Center provides 24-hour communications for any event that demands an emergency response.

These are among the services managed by the 1,250 members of the Colorado Department of Public Safety. I join them in welcoming you to our web site.

Peter A. Weir
Executive Director