Cheyenne Police Launch New Policies To Deal With Crime

A combination of Laramie County Sheriff's Office restrictions on booking non-violent offenders into the Laramie County Detention Center and budget cuts hindering the Laramie County District Attorney's Office from prosecuting some criminal cases has led Cheyenne Police to institute some new policies.

That's according to Cheyenne Police Chief Bryan Kozak. To cope with the inability to book non-violent offenders in the Laramie County Jail, Cheyenne Police will now be sending non-violent offenders to the Platte County Detention Center.

In the words of a CPD news release "Many local offenders have multiple arrest warrants and believe they are impervious to arrest." The release goes on to say that people with warrants for non-violent offenses should take care of them now, because police intend to start rounding up people for such warrants on Nov. 13.

In regard to budget cuts at the DA''s office, Kozak says budget cuts caused the DA to decline 70 cases within the last month. So the CPD will now begin to prosecute some felony offenders for misdemeanors in Municipal Court so that at least they face the prospect of some punishment.

But Kozak says the good news is that in spite of some of the issues faced by local law enforcement, crime is actually at its lowest point in two decades. In fact, Kozak says the local property crime rate in 2020 is the lowest it's ever been, and has dropped 26 percent over the past two years.

He attributes the decline to thorough investigations and aggressive prosecution of offenders. The department has also gotten funding for a crime analyst, but because of the city hiring freeze, that position is on hold for now.