Sheriff Marinelli: Bringing School Safety Through Change
By Echo Robbins (unedited)
Sheriff Reggie Marinelli, Jeffco’s first ever female sheriff, has been working in law enforcement since Columbine. Her experience gives her a unique perspective into how she handles her team, and the effects of the Evergreen High School shooting.
After September 10th, Evergreen gained more than a little respect for our police. The town flooded with upwards of 170 officers from multiple counties-- Denver, Aurora, Clear Creek, and more- responding to the crisis, who made quick and efficient work of getting students safe. “We have a partnership in the state of Colorado like no other,” Sheriff Marinelli commented.
The necessary approach to threats has changed since Columbine, she told us. Now, the policy must be an immediate response: enter the building and enter it now.
This proved to be extremely successful, and in less than three hours, Evergreen High School kids were back with their families. The nationwide average is six. “We leave our kids in the morning to go to work, but the minute we hit the street, every kid in Jeffco is ours,” Sheriff Marinelli explained. “I’ve been told, ‘well, you never had kids.’ I did. Thousands of them.”
She expressed the police department’s wholehearted support for all the victims of the shooting, for the two injured, and for all the families involved. “We are a team. We will always be a team with the community,” she said. “Right now, you’re what matters.”
Victims are not where her compassion ends. As soon as she took office in 2023, she introduced a system to support her own team: the wellness center. On Wednesdays, the smell of a popcorn machine lures officers into a space dedicated to physical, mental, and spiritual wellness. They have full-time access to a gym, resources for physical therapy, and Code-4 counseling for the frontline and any officer that needs it.
Moving forward, as police, students, and adults alike recover, Sheriff Marinelli is using tragedy as a force for good. Desmond Holly posted a photo of his weapon on X just five days before the shooting took place. If his information had been released to officials within the 24-48 hours that Sheriff Marinelli is lobbying for, maybe September 10th could have been a normal Wednesday.
Her goal is to make sure that large social media companies can give police access to critical information before a situation escalates- because right now, a warrant for any personal information takes up to a month. “I can’t fight the fight against guns. Nobody can seem to come to a compromise- but against corporate America, that is a fight I’m willing to fight.”
Image Credit: Mark Neitro at JCSO.