Morrison Police Chief Bill Vinelli was placed on leave last month and he is being investigated by town officials over concerns regarding his management of the police force, Morrison Mayor Chris Wolfe said.

The mayor and Jefferson County Sheriff Reggie Marinelli sat down with reporters Monday afternoon to explain their new law enforcement partnership two weeks before the Morrison Police Department is slated to be disbanded.

“It’s fiscally a better decision to move ahead with the sheriff’s (office) as our partner,” Wolfe said.

A call to Town Manager Mallory Nassau by The Denver Gazette was not returned. 

Morrison currently has 388 residents, according to the 2023 census, and nine full-time police officers, according to Wolfe.

On Monday afternoon, a sign in the tiny Morrison administration building announced that town offices would close at 2:30 p.m. That surprised Rene Ritzinger, who had stopped by to pay her water bill.

She plans to take over her parents’ Morrison home, and the lack of a local police force won’t change her mind about becoming a Morrison resident.

“I’m not concerned about the police department disbanding,” she said, although she acknowledged that drunk drivers are known to drive through town after concerts at Red Rocks. “I don’t know what the bar owners are going to do when the customers get unruly.”

One of the most popular hangouts for post-and-pre-Red Rocks shows is The Morrison Inn.

“The town of Morrison is one block, which is a speed trap,” said restaurant manager Jason Gilles. He said customers often complain about getting double ticketed for speeding and for parking.

“The police have been bad for business,” said Gilles.

Big decision

Morrison town trustees voted to dissolve the tiny town’s police department during a Dec. 3 board meeting due to “various financial concerns,” according to a news release from the Town of Morrison.

At the meeting, the town was working to create its 2025 budget with the police department looking at a proposed budget of $1.67 million in the new year — over 40% of the town’s overall budget, according to city documents. 

According to the documents, the police department cost $1.47 million in 2023 and an estimated $1.73 million in 2024, despite the town only budgeting $1.57 million for the department last year. 

Wolfe said that the salaries of the nine-person, full-time force range from $57,000-$60,000 per year.

The Town of Morrison averages 1.5 calls per 24-hour period, Marinelli said. She is confident that her deputies at JeffCo’s south and mountain substations could easily handle the extra duties.

“There will be no impact in terms of man and woman power in our office,” she said.

Jefferson County deputies and Denver police will handle calls at Red Rocks during concerts. Marinelli’s deputies are already handling overnight shifts and some weekends for the Morrison force.

Wolfe said that the worst situation the Morrison police force has responded to this year was a “suicide-by-gun,” and acknowledged that it hurt to fire the entire police force. His message is that the citizens of Morrison will be just as safe after Jan. 1 as they were when a nine-person local force was watching.

“JeffCo is a phone call away,” he said. “It could be seconds, it could be minutes.”

Denver Gazette reporter Sage Kelley contributed to this story.