In the last two years, Craig City Council has found itself behind closed doors from the public in executive session 14 times out of 58 total city council meetings.
Of those 14 times, a majority of the executive sessions have dealt with council receiving legal advice on a civil suit from a local man against the police department for excessive use of force, while others have dealt with personnel matters, according to the last two years of council packets dating back to January 2019.
It is unclear if the three most recent executive sessions from Feb. 9, 2021 may have had a hand in Craig Police Chief Jerry DeLong’s reported resignation. City Manager Peter Brixius said DeLong submitted his resignation on Feb. 8, but one of the executive sessions was “to discuss City Attorney recommendations regarding use of force and implementing policies and practices to reduce liability.”
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Nearly one week after the resignation of Craig Police Department Chief of Police Jerry DeLong, the City of Craig has named an interim chief for the department.
According to a news release from the city Wednesday afternoon, City Manager Peter Brixius announced Michael Cochran as the city’s interim police chief with an estimated start date to occur in two weeks.
“Cochran is familiar with Craig PD as he formerly worked for the department prior to taking his current position as Deputy Sheriff and Emergency Management Coordinator for the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office. He has led a distinguished law enforcement career which began in 1989 as a patrol deputy for the Paulding County Sheriff’s Department in Dallas, Georgia and has most recently served in an interim police chief position for the City of Powder Springs in 2017,” the city statement reads.
The Craig Police Department will receive four new patrol vehicles and a new records management software in the coming months following two bid approvals for the equipment by councilors Tuesday night.
Councilors unanimously approved a $125,873 bid to Victory Motors for four new four-door, four-wheel drive short-bed pickups for the patrol division, and unanimously approved a roughly $37,014 bid to EForce for a new records management software. In total, the two bids came out to about $162,887..
According to Craig Police Chief Jerry DeLong, the four new trucks will replace four vehicles over 10 years old within the patrol division.
Craig Police Capt. Bill Leonard stated that the patrol vehicles usually have to be replaced every decade, or 90-100,000 miles.
New Craig Police Department School Resource Officer Ryan Hampton (center) is sworn in Tuesday night by City Judge Jay Cranmer Tuesday night. Craig Police Department Chief Jerry DeLong looks on.
After eight years as a Patrol Deputy in the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office, Ryan Hampton swapped out his badge for a new one, joining the Craig Police Department as the new School Resource Officer.
Hampton was officially sworn in Tuesday night at the city council meeting by City Judge Jay Cranmer, marking his first official day with the police department.
He will be replacing one of the department’s current SROs, Bobby Adler, who will be leaving the department at the end of the month.
Update: 2:30 p.m.: Moffat County High School and Ridgeview Elementary were put into a shelter in place Wednesday morning for an incident that occurred in the 800 block of Columbine.
“At about 10 am this morning one of our Community Service Officers was handling a parking violation in the 800 block of Columbine,”Capt. Bill Leonard said in a statement.
The Community Service Officer was confronted by a male owner of the vehicle, who made comments to the officer about having a firearm, Leonard said.
The officer called for assistance and left the immediate area. Officers from the Craig Police Department and the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office responded and made contact with the male by telephone.