COLORADO SPRINGS – Police Chief Pete Carey will step down in February following 7 years of service with the Colorado Springs Police Department. Investigative Reporter Patrick Nelson sits down with Chief Carey for a one-on-one interview to talk about his retirement, what’s next for him, and the challenges the next chief will face in providing public safety to Colorado Springs neighborhoods.
Carey has served in local law enforcement since 1982 when he joined the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, before moving to CSPD where he worked Patrol and within the Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence Division, then supervised the Training Academy, Tactical Enforcement Unit and Metro VNI.
His rise to leadership in the department continued with his promotion to Lieutenant in 1999, Commander in 2004, and Chief of Police starting with an interim appointment in 2011.
Patrick Nelson: “Why was now the time for you decide to retire?”
Chief Carey: “I think now is a good time because I think things are going well we’ve got a solid hiring plan we have some good programs in place and on a personal level it’s a good time for me to leave.”
Patrick Nelson: “One of the strong rumors that we’ve heard is that you may have interest in going over and serving at the El Paso County sheriff’s office it is that something that you might do?”
Chief Carey: “I’ve heard that rumor too so that’s a decision if that options on the table down down-the-line that I’ll talk to my boss my wife about will see what I am made any decisions”
Patrick Nelson: This is a city that continues to grow and we see the crime trends kind of reflecting that. Violent crime on the rise. What do you think are some of the factors that are leading to that?”
Chief Carey: “I think Colorado Springs is becoming a big city over half a million I think while we still keep the that small town culture in a lot of areas there are some big issues we need to deal with.”
Patrick Nelson: “Is there someone that you would like to see be the next police chief here in Colorado Springs?”
Chief Carey: “I think one of my biggest responsibilities as police chief is to make sure there’s people in house already step open accept that challenge I feel comfortable we would have some very very good candidates to be the next police chief.”
