{"id":60144,"date":"2014-02-07T00:52:34","date_gmt":"2014-02-07T07:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/retired-trooper-announces-run-for-sheriff\/"},"modified":"2014-02-07T07:52:34","modified_gmt":"2014-02-07T07:52:34","slug":"retired-trooper-announces-run-for-sheriff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/retired-trooper-announces-run-for-sheriff\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired trooper announces run for sheriff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Nowlin\"
Nowlin<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Steve Nowlin, a 37-year law enforcement veteran, recently announced he is coming out of retirement to seek the Montezuma County sheriff\u2019s post.<\/p>\n

A Republican candidate in the November election, Nowlin retired as a master trooper from the Colorado State Patrol last month, but he told The Cortez Journal on Wednesday, Feb. 5, that his job isn\u2019t over. He believes his skills, training, experience and leadership are needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to turn Montezuma County around,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my home, and I care about the people here. I want to make it how it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Montezuma County, Nowlin graduated from Montezuma-Cortez High School in 1974. He then attended Trinidad State Junior College for one year before becoming a certified Colorado police officer.<\/p>\n

Nowlin started his law enforcement career as a patrol officer for the Cortez Police Department. During his 14-year career with the department, he was promoted to sergeant and then to detective.<\/p>\n

His municipal service was followed with a three-year stint with the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office, where he served as a detective lieutenant.<\/p>\n

Nowlin eventually ended up serving the next 21 years with the Colorado State Patrol. Starting as a state trooper, Nowlin was later promoted to lead multiple criminal investigations \u2013 including Operation Four Corners, Southwest Auto Theft Team and BATTLE. He retired as a master trooper on Jan. 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a professional peace officer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nowlin said he opted to seek the elected position because of the many challenges facing law enforcement in an ever-changing 21st century. The greatest change includes diversified communities and the various types of crimes that are being committed, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key is prevention,\u201d said Nowlin. \u201cI\u2019m all about prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI work with everybody,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s essential to work with other agencies and other citizens, and my work record shows that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell\u2019s first term in office, Nowlin said he knows he can do a better job as the county\u2019s top lawman. The people of Montezuma County also need and deserve better, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSheriff Spruell\u2019s record speaks for itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nowlin said he has the competency and character required to fulfill the professional duties as sheriff, adding the office is more important than any one individual.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job is to be a true professional, because public trust is so very important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nowlin said he would match his skills and expertise against any candidate, and he vowed to remain fair and honest without prejudice or vengeance if elected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want there to be a clear choice for the citizens,\u201d he said. \u201cI want what\u2019s best for them. If it\u2019s legal, moral and ethical, then that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

A highly decorated officer, Nowlin was named the American Legion\u2019s 1992 Police Officer of the Year, Colorado\u2019s 2006 Auto Theft Investigator of the Year and nominated for the 2013 Attorney General\u2019s Excellence in Law Enforcement Award, to name a few.<\/p>\n

Married to his wife, Kathrine, for 35 years, the couple raised two children in Montezuma County, and they now have three grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Last month, Spruell announced he would seek a second term as sheriff. He too is running as a Republican candidate.<\/p>\n

tbaker@cortezjournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nowlin, a 37-year veteran, says county needs, deserves his skills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[13,52,308,237],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-60144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-law-enforcement","tag-local-elections","tag-montezuma-county-government"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60144"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=60144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}