Use of Deadly Force Skyrockets in Mesa County. Local Media Silent.

Whenever local law enforcement agency is involved in a lethal force incident, whether someone dies or not, it triggers an investigation by the 21st Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team. The team is comprised of Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Municipal Police Departments, Colorado State Patrol, and other smaller agencies. Since its inception the team has been activated 38 times. Only in one of those cases was an officer charged with any crime.

                  What is more telling is the rapid increase in the use of force since the 2000s. From 2002-2012 CIRT was only activated six times. The next eleven years, from 2013-2023 saw 32 activations. An increase of 533%.  Crime is not up 533%. The population hasn’t increased 533%. What is going on here?

It’s hard to image that the now gentrified streets of Grand Junction are more violent now than they were during the height of the meth epidemic of the 1990s and 2000s. But what is certain is that police departments all across the United States have become more militarized and that is certainly the case here in ‘Happy Valley.’

Neighboring Garfield County has 65,000 people. They have only activated their CIRT team three times since 2013. Mesa county’s population is two and half times larger, but the use of forces is almost 11 times higher in Mesa county.

  What’s also telling is that none of the local mainstream media outlets have reported on this. Just like they didn’t ask question when the State Patrol killed Jayne Thompson on May 9th, 2020, during a wellness check. The police and the media misgendered and used the victims’ deadname for weeks afterwards. The media does not question power they serve it.