This coming Tuesday, August 3rd, from 5-9 is our First Annual National Night Out! The event starts at 5 pm in Minton Park, and Flight for Life is scheduled for 6 pm to land in the ball fields.
This event promotes police-community partnerships; crime, drug, and violence prevention; safety; and neighborhood unity. Come for a meet and greet with the Empire Police Department and Clear Creek First Responders. See the SWAT vehicle, Flight for Life’s helicopter, patrol vehicles, fire trucks, and more!
Officer Andrew Lorenz has put a tremendous amount of work into coordinating this event, we are the first Police Department in Clear Creek County to participate in this National event, and we are hoping to make it an annual event here in Empire. Officer Lorenz has invited all the other law enforcement agencies to participate and bring vehicles and equipment for all to see up close! He also has fun stuff for the kids.
Please come to Minton Park Tuesday evening and help support this event. We are VERY proud of both of our Officers and the work they do with our community!
Lyle Wohlers Law Enforcement Luncheon
2019 & 2020 Lyle Wohlers Law Enforcement Luncheon
RYAN FROST NAMED 2019 OFFICER OF THE YEAR
ANDREW LORENZ NAMED 2020 OFFICER OF THE YEAR
LAURA ALLEN NAMED 2019 CITIZEN OF THE YEAR
ROBERT WISE NAMED 2020 CITIZEN OF THE YEAR
The 2019 & 2020 Lyle Wohlers Law Enforcement Luncheon was held on May 26, 2021, at the Blackstone Rivers Ranch in Idaho Springs. Corporal Ryan Frost was awarded the 2019 Officer of the Year, and Officer Andrew Lorenz was awarded the 2020 Officer of the Year. Laura Allen was awarded the 2019 Citizen of the Year, and Robert Wise was awarded the 2020 Citizen of the Year.
This prestigious award is in honor of Colorado State Patrol Technician Lyle Wohlers, who proudly served for 26 years in the Colorado State Patrol. Trooper Wohlers was brutally killed during a “routine” traffic stop near Georgetown, Colorado in 1992.
Click here to see the press release
Colorado Resident ID’s
Any resident of Colorado can obtain a Colorado Identification Card. As new federal travel laws will require a “REAL ID” as of October 1, 2020 ( https://www.dhs.gov/real-id ), it is recommended that all residents of all ages obtain REAL ID’s from their local states of residence. Colorado’s ID’s qualify as REAL ID’s per federal regulations, meaning multiple forms of identification and address verification are required to obtain a Colorado ID or driver’s license.
It is recommended that even juveniles and minors under the age of 18 obtain an ID. Colorado driver’s license and identification card requirements and information can be found online at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dmv/identification-card .
Benefits for children having an ID include assistance with travel, identification of a lost child, emergency contact information for parents, and simply the factor of your child having reserved an earlier number that carries on to a driver’s license number. If young children get separated from their parents and may not know phone numbers or their address, the child could tell law enforcement their name and an officer can locate their information through the Colorado DMV database. In addition to their address, you can provide emergency contact information for law enforcement to contact the parents via phone. As children get older, they will need a REAL ID for TSA Travel requirements. Obtaining a REAL ID now rather than later in a rush is easier. Parents, your child will likely equate this to a driver’s license. Many parents have used this to as a driver’s license for bicycles, battery operated drivable toy cars, skateboards, and more. Therefore, if the child is not learning to conduct themselves in a safe manor, you have the parental authority to take away their toys and driving privilege!
Junk Vehicles, Abandoned Vehicles, and Parking Issues in Town
Town Ordinance 255 highlights:
Article I. Section 3. (4) Each and every day, or portion thereof, that this Ordinance is violated, or permitted to be violated, shall be a separate offense, and such offenses shall be prosecuted accordingly.
Section 5 (1. Abandoned Vehicles) 1.2 Any vehicle left unattended on public property, including any portion of a street, highway or right-of-way open to the general use of the public within the Town limits, for a period of seventy-two (72) hours or longer…..
2. “Junk Vehicle” means any vehicle not able to lawfully travel, under its own power, on public streets and highways in the State of Colorado. A vehicle shall be presumed to be a junk vehicle if any of the following conditions are met;
2.1 No current license plate or registration is displayed on such vehicle; or
2.2 The vehicle or parts thereof, is placed upon jacks, blocks, chains or other supports not necessary for normal operation of such vehicle; or
2.3 There is an absence of one or more parts of the vehicle necessary for the lawful operation of the vehicle upon the streets and highways.
Article III, Section 4. (2. Parking) Parking in excess of seventy-two hours
1. It shall be unlawful for any owner or operator of a vehicle to leave that vehicle parked in the same place on a public street continuously for a period in excess of seventy-two (72) hours. A vehicle shall be considered in violation of this subsection if it has not been moved at least one hundred (100) feet during the seventy-two-hour period of time, except as provided in subsection 2.3 below.
2. It shall be unlawful for the owner of a junk or abandoned vehicle, as defined in this Ordinance, to leave such vehicle parked on any public street in the Town of Empire for a period in excess of seventy-two (72) hours, regardless of location. The seventy-two-hour time limit includes the cumulative time spent on any public street in the Town of Empire. Junk or abandoned vehicles in violation of this section are subject to tow.
3. Personal vehicles may be parked on public streets directly adjacent to the dwelling occupied by the owner of the vehicle, unless posted parking signs designate otherwise. The lawful parking of recreational vehicles on public streets is addressed in Section 4, section 1.4, below.
4. Any vehicle left on a public street, not adjacent to the owner’s house, for more than 72 hours, will be considered abandoned.