Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell has resumed sharing some information with reporters, days before relinquishing his duties as the county’s top lawman.
The Sheriff’s Office announced in an email to The Cortez Journal on Monday, Jan. 5, that it would no longer release its department news online. Instead, the agency is again providing unfiltered reports directly to the Journal after an 18-month embargo.
“The sheriff is no longer reporting the news on Facebook,” said records manager Heather Mann. “I have resumed sending you press reports via email as we did prior to Facebook.”
Saying that he wanted transparent operations, Spruell launched a Sheriff’s Office Facebook page to release limited information to the public on June 11, 2013. His first post, dated July 17, 2013, was a job announcement for detention center staff. That same month, he posted photographs of inmates picking up trash along a county road and a link to a six-month financial audit after former Undersheriff Robin Cronk was forced to resign amid an embezzlement investigation.
With 2,466 page likes to date, the sheriff’s Facebook page has also been utilized to promote his stance on the Second Amendment. On July 31, 2013, Spruell posted a picture of himself and other Colorado sheriffs from the cover of a National Rifle Association magazine along with a post about applying for concealed weapons permits.
The sheriff’s first “news report” on Facebook was posted on Aug. 10, 2013, two months after launching the social media site. The 742-word article included accounts of an unnamed deputy who investigated an assault at an unnamed hotel. An unnamed woman was arrested.
“After all of the stories from all parties involved were obtained and discussed, it was decided that she was the primary aggressor in the incident, and she was placed under arrest,” Spruell posted.
Since that time, the Sheriff’s Office has continued to provide limited details of investigations and subsequent arrests online, but has updated the Facebook page almost daily with incarceration rates at the county jail.
Spruell also used Facebook to attack The Cortez Journal and its reporters.
“My opinion is The Cortez Journal is biased and liberal in there (sic) reporting,” he posted on June 18, 2014. “I will let the readers decide for themselves.”
This week, the Sheriff’s Office has provided more than a dozen reports to the media via email. Each deputy’s report has included the name of the investigating officer, exact address of the scene, a summary of the incident along with both the name and date of birth of alleged criminals.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
Details of Nowlin inauguration
Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell will surrender his command to Sheriff-elect Steve Nowlin next week.
Nowlin will be sworn into office on Jan. 13. Presided over by District Court Judge Todd Plewe, the public ceremony starts at 9 a.m. inside the County Annex building on Main Street.
Nowlin said Wednesday that he’d name his undersheriff after the inuaguration.
“I don’t have the authority to hire an undersheriff yet, so I can’t name my new undersheriff until after I take the oath of office,” Nowlin said.
Nowlin said he would also release new department policy and procedure guidelines within days of his inauguration.
“The procedural manuals will be posted on the sheriff’s website for everybody to see,” he said.
During his campaign, Nowlin vowed to maintain an open-door policy with the press and provide access to all public records. He also intends to introduce a new Facebook page for the sheriff’s office.
Nowlin defeated Spruell in the Republican primary in June.
“It will be used to provide more general information, such as emergency-type situations,” he explained.
In addition to Nowlin, all county candidates will be sworn into office next Tuesday at the County Annex.
