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Jun 17, 2023

Kremmling hires interim police chief Jesse Lisenby as permanent chief

News News | Aug 3, 2023 [email protected] Kremmling has welcomed a new permanent police chief, but he is already a familiar face in Grand County. Jesse Lisenby, who has served as Kremmling’s

News News | Aug 3, 2023

[email protected]

Kremmling has welcomed a new permanent police chief, but he is already a familiar face in Grand County.

Jesse Lisenby, who has served as Kremmling’s interim police chief since November 2022, has accepted the full-time, permanent position. Lisenby replaced former Police Chief Hiram Rivera Jr., who had departed in October 2022.

Chief Lisenby is originally from Texas, but he and his wife Jennifer have called Grand County home for the past three years.

Lisenby’s history of police service began with the Beaumont Police Department in Beaumont, Texas. He then went on to become an officer with the Fort Worth Police Department. Lisenby is also a veteran, having served five years in the Army Special Forces.

Lisenby has also described himself as an avid outdoorsman, with a passion for fly-fishing. Jennifer, who works at Middle Park Health, is also a fly-fisher. Kremmling was once a vacation spot for the couple during their excursions to the Colorado River. They decided to make it their home, so Lisenby applied for the position of Kremmling police chief in September 2020.

“Toward the end of my five-year enlistment, I decided to go into a career in law enforcement. To me, (this job) was just an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Lisenby stated during his interview for the Kremmling police chief position in 2020.

When Lisenby applied for the position of police chief, Rivera was also a candidate. Rivera was ultimately chosen as chief; he then hired on Lisenby to join him.

“I came on in November 2020, but only worked there until August,” said Lisenby in an interview with Sky-Hi News. “Then I started building my house and went full time with the construction project.”

Lisenby said that building the house by himself has been a long project. As interim police chief, Lisenby has also worked an arduous schedule. But now he is hopeful that his schedule will improve as permanent chief – giving him more time to work on his house and enjoy time off.

“We’re looking at some more unorthodox police staffing models… instead of doing what we’ve always done,” he said. “What I’ve found is that it just burns people out being on call all the time.”

Lisenby and town government can ideally work together to create a new schedule model for himself, as well as their two current officers. This will benefit not only the police department, but also keep community members safer.

“We’re trying to make the best use of what we have for coverage and what we’re hired to do, providing policing service for the community and the public safety that goes with that,” Lisenby said.

The path to becoming a permanent police chief was a long one for Lisenby, as he discussed his position with the town board. Now he feels that he is on better footing to accept his role, and has been welcomed with open arms by community members. As chief, he is looking forward for ways to improve the department and how they protect Kremmling citizens.

“Our PD has relied pretty heavily in the past on daytime presence with on call overnight,” he said. “I’m looking to expand what we provide coverage-wide for the community, so we have an officer in Kremmling able to answer calls 24/7. If that isn’t entirely feasible, at least (we can) get a lot closer to that, than what we’ve been doing.”

Staffing shortages have plagued the department, most notably with the departure of Chief Rivera in 2022. These shortages had caused burnout for Lisenby. To provide constant coverage for the town, he and other officers need to work on call for long periods. He said this burnout “can hurt the agency and the community; it makes it tough to get on with a normal life.”

He hopes the department can get on the right track with new scheduling – that is actually a proven model for other first responders throughout the country.

Lisenby said his plan is based on a model that is often used by fire departments. Firefighters, especially in rural communities, often work several 24-hour shifts in a row, then enjoy several days off in a row. This allows them to recharge over the days they are off work, since usually the first day is simply resting from being on call.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel … I’ve done some research in the past and reached out to some agencies that are currently using this (model),” he said. “I think we may be able to adopt something similar to that and provide better coverage for the town.”

Lisenby’s ideal schedule would allow for officers to work on call 24 hours for two to three days in a row. Then, officers can enjoy four to five days off in a row to use how they please.

He added that firefighters who have this type of schedule often work other jobs in their off days. Or the schedule simply allows an officer to spend more time with their family, take trips, or recreate right here in Grand County.

“Our call volume is low enough to where that works,” he said. “It works for the fire service, it works for EMS, and it has worked in some small police agencies.”

Kremmling’s police force includes Lisenby, plus Officer Bryson Hicks and Officer Doug Crocker. Hicks is a veteran with the department, having served since November 2019. A recent hire, Officer Crocks is still in training with Officer Hicks, then he will work alongside Lisenby.

“The two officers that we do have, myself included, if all three of us are working shifts, I think we can get really close, if not truly provide that 24/7 coverage,” he said.

Although this model isn’t traditional for police departments, especially in urban areas, Lisenby feels it can meet the unique needs for Kremmling.

“With the small town we have now, as opposed to having a 30-minute response (time), waking somebody out of bed in Hot Sulphur, for instance, to answer a call, you’d actually have somebody in Kremmling,” he said.

Police officers will be more rested and ready when it’s time to answer that 2 a.m. call.

“We’ll be working more hours, but it’s in a shorter period of time, so you have more days off. I would much rather do that than be tied to a phone 4 to 5 days in a row,” he said. “I know this firsthand … it’s exhausting.”

Most recently, Lisenby reached out to the lieutenant of the police department in Kittitas, Washington. The Kittitas Police Department, like Kremmling’s, is lean, so they had to be innovative to provide 24/7 coverage for their citizens. In 2022, the department adopted a scheduling system based on their fire department. Their officers are now “happier, more rested, and driven to serve their community when they go on shift,” according to a Daily Record article about the schedule revamp.

Lisenby explained that the towns have a similar rural population of about 1, 500 people.

“It seemed to go quite well for them,” Lisenby said. “They were very happy with it. It’s neat to see somebody else that’s done it and it worked out.”

Officers on the 24-hour shifts could patrol their neighborhoods anytime of day or night, instead of being restricted to daytime patrols. According to the Daily Record article, crime figures for Kittitas have dropped, and “freedom in officer’s schedules helps instill a sense of departmental ownership.”

Lisenby hopes to have this same success story in his town of Kremmling.

“We can trial it and see how it works. It isn’t a guaranteed thing,” he added, clarifying that implementing the new model still needs the blessing of the town board and town manager. “It hasn’t been approved, but the board has been notified it’s something I’ve been looking at … and we’re starting to gain some traction there.”

Lisenby said that if his proposed model is adopted, it may become a beneficial recruiting tool for them. New officers in Kremmling can look forward to healthy schedules that allow for work-life balance – which, if you wear blue, isn’t always a guarantee.

“We could get at least one more person on board,” Lisenby said, adding that the town is currently hiring for a patrol officer and code enforcer position.

Lisenby joked that if the model is adopted, he would go back and be a police officer all over again.

“For me, that would be the perfect job,” he said. “You work three days a week and you’re off for four to five; you have plenty of time to do other things. The town would get – on two or three days you’re working – 24-hour coverage. So it’s really a win-win.”

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