LA JARA — A community organizational meeting in the Centauri band room Dec. 12 drew more than 50 persons to work on solutions of public concern rather than express anger at their existence.

Organized by Keith Christensen, the meeting followed up on a heated gathering Nov. 15 at the Sanford Community Center in which residents of the town and surrounding rural area expressed frustration at growing crime and what they perceived as failure by law enforcement to do anything about it.

Opiate addiction and abuse were identified early as a cause of some of the burglaries, robberies and thefts that have plagued the county and residents demanded a solution.

Along with obtaining cooperation by physicians in the amount of opiates prescribed, a need to educate the public was highlighted.

Pharmacist Joseph Valdez pointed out that patients often demand several prescriptions at a time, while physicians are learning how to treat pain without opiates.

“This means all of us working together,” Valdez said, suggesting patients ask doctors about their medications, including whether any one of them is an opioid, then act accordingly.

Valdez said the Conejos County Prevention Coalition is keeping parents engaged about what is happening in the schools and what could be happening at home, but children themselves need education about drug abuse.

He suggested the legislature mandate classes on drug awareness all the way through high school so students will be well informed.

Environmental Protection Officer Rodney King said he is becoming involved due to the fact that drugs have become a severe threat to the environment of the schools. He wants to help work on the drug abuse and dropout problem.

County Commissioner Mitch Jarvies said, “We once had our little piece of heaven. Now we don’t and it’s all our fault.”

An advocate of neighborhood watch, Jarvies said, “Pay attention. Let them (the criminals) know we’re watching.”

Linda Anderson Smith asked if coalitions would grow and said the official plan should be having meetings open to the public.

Christensen said the first core group meeting would be Jan. 23, when superintendents would discuss problems in the schools.

The Colorado Dept. of Education offers grants to hire counselors and put prevention education in the classrooms. It was noted that a program in Alamosa enjoys multi-agency support.

King said he can see prevention is a problem and the community needs to come up with solutions to minimize the threat. He offered to facilitate a meeting to work on that.

“I’m interested in coming up with solutions,” King said. “The problem is generally not the kids, but the parents.”

The district attorney will meet with interested residents regarding the proper way to conduct community watch.

A woman who had suffered personal crime said there had been no help from law enforcement. She suggested she would just have to accept it.

Assistant 12th Judicial District Attorney Ashley McCuaig said his office has three victims’ advocates, so if a case has been filed, they can put her in touch with an attorney.

“Victims who want to participate, to be involved, can come in and I will help,” McCuaig told her.

“If I know about it on my end, I can put it through.”

State Representative Donald Valdez (D-La Jara) acknowledged problems with the sheriff’s department, with calls not being returned. “If you see something wrong, call (Colorado State Patrol) dispatch.”

Neither the sheriff nor any of his deputies were at the meeting.

McCuaig told another woman in the crowd that he could possibly recover her stolen items if she has serial numbers and descriptive information.

If I can identify who took it, I will follow up.”

A man asked McCuaig, “If I call and police don’t show up until the next day, then what?
A request for mutual aid has been made by the Conejos County Sheriff to the Colorado State Patrol and Trooper L.R.Curry said he would respond if he got a call. Once a deputy arrived, it becomes their case or call, but he would remain at the scene, to help if necessary.

“We respond to county calls all the time and we won’t clear the call until it’s safe to do so.”

County Commissioner John Sandoval pointed out that the state funds the public defender and the counties must fund the district attorney. “The guy who wants to get someone off has more resources than those who want to put him away.”

He said the Department of Human Services is working with families who are at risk. “Keep in mind, we’re working on many issues with the money we have.”

“The sheriff runs the jail, we just fund him.”

Sandoval said, “We are trying to be as frugal as we can with your money.”

Christensen closed the meeting with the observation, “They can see the ball is rolling, let’s continue to look out for one another and reach out to our neighbors.”