|
The Colony Police originally began as a Law Enforcement Committee. The committee was an advisory board to the City Council regarding police matters as well as a liaison between the citizens and the city government. When this board was formed, the city’s population was approximately 5000 and the last street north was Nash Drive. The board members would actually respond to calls; they were unarmed and did not know what they were getting into!
(The Colony, 1978. The open field in the top center of the photo is where the current police station is built)
In 1978 The Colony Police purchased their first marked units, which were retired Texas State Troopers cars. The fleet is shown here parked at the old city hall/police station that was located at 4916 Main St.
(The first “marked” fleet for The Colony Police; retired TX DPS cars)
The Colony then purchased several portable buildings which were originally used by Methodist Hospital as a portable clinic. These buildings were used as city hall as well as police operations and were located alongside the current Fire Station #2 at 5571 North Colony Blvd.
(1981, shown above, purchased portable buildings from Methodist Hospital, used for City Hall and Police Station; also current police staff)
A police reserve group was also formed about this time and was armed and certified by the state. Soon after the formation of the reserves, The Colony added two full time employees; a Chief of Police and a patrol officer. By 1981 The Colony police staff had grown to 11 full time officers. Also in June of that year, The Colony hired 24 hour police and fire dispatch staff, prior to which, all calls were routed through the Denton County Sheriff’s Department. A few surrounding cities still continue to utilize the sheriff’s department for dispatch, such as Little Elm and Corinth.
On Saturday, October 3, 1987 The Colony Police; along with the city hall, library and the recreation center opened its doors at 5151 N. Colony Blvd. To this date, The Colony Police still uses the same building that they share with the municipal court, but have expanded into the area previously occupied by city hall and the former council chamber converted into a courtroom. The city hall and library are now at 6800 Main St. On March 23, 2010 The Colony Police started to build its new state-of-the-art, 17,000 square foot jail facility. This will also include a firing range, property room, lab, vehicle searching area and sally port.
(2010, new jail concept, a 17,000 sq. ft. facility)
Since The Colony was formed, it has had 6 Chiefs of Police:
Jim Beltran August 1977 to May 1978
John Steinseck July 1978 to September 1979
Nick Ristagno Jan 1980 to April 1990
Ted Gibson December 1990 to February 1992
Bruce Stewart December 1992 to September 1995
Joe Clark April 1996 to Present
Since its inception, The Colony Police has become a very progressive department. The department now has over 50 sworn officers and 25 civilians and an additional 15 part-time civilians. The department utilizes the latest technology, including patrol cars equipped with laptop computers operating on a brand new CAD system; AEDs (automated external defibrillator), Rescue Discs, Stop Sticks, front and rear radar units, LED emergency lighting and camera systems. The Colony also has a 14 member SRT team that includes an entry team, snipers and tactical medic as well as an APC (armored personnel carrier).
The City of The Colony is a young dynamic growing community of 40,000 and has been rated one of the ten best cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The Colony Police Department is always striving to improve the quality of life within our community, and we feel this is best accomplished by a partnership between the police department and our informed citizens. We offer many services that assist citizens with staying informed such as FaceBook, Twitter, Nixle and Crimereports.com, as well as many opportunities such as the Citizen’s Police Academy and National Night Out. Thanks to the efforts of our citizens and the police department, the city’s per capita crime rate fell 14.5%, setting a 20 year record low crime rate in 2009.
Also in 2009, The Colony Police also received a first place award in a national competition for their new police car design.
As The Colony Police has changed in time, so have our patches. Since 1977, the patches have changed a total of 5 times, shown today is the patch we designed in 1996 and captures the red and blue colors of law enforcement as well as iconic sail boat shape of The Colony.
|
6800 Main Street