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Officer Involved Shootings & Critical Incidents

Graphic for Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT)

When a peace officer shoots and wounds or kills a person in Mesa County, Colorado, a very specific protocol is followed to investigate and review the case. See C.R.S. §16-2.5-301.

Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT)

The 21st Judicial District has many law enforcement agencies, all who value the highest standards in assuring conflict, and bias free investigations of critical incidents and officer involved shootings. The 21st Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) has created a memorandum of understanding (MOU) guiding the protocols for CIRT investigations. The signators on that include the District Attorney for the 21st Judicial District, the Mesa County Sheriff, the Chiefs of the Grand Junction, Palisade and Fruita police departments, the head of Troop 4A for the Colorado State Patrol, the head of the local Department of Corrections Parole unit, and a representative from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations.

We also value transparency in our process and decisions regarding whether a person was charged, and why that decision was made.  Below are links to our MOU and the decision in each case in which the CIRT was invoked.

To read the 21st Judicial CIRT Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) see below

Critical Incident Response Team Protocol (Revised January 2020)

Critical Incidents Letters