After 30 years with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Director Chris Schaefer announced his retirement Monday on the heels of independent investigations finding allegations of him providing preferential treatment meritless. 

Schaefer will officially retire on from his position on May 2. But, according to Schaefer, the retirement was always planned to fall on his 30-year anniversary with the bureau and had nothing to do with the recent investigations, according to a news release from CBI. 

The investigation began in November and concluded in January. It was requested by Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS) Executive Director Stan Hilkey and Employment Matters/Mark Flynn Investigations Group (EMFIG) conducted the investigations.

Hilkey requested the investigations after an anonymous allegation claimed Schaefer gave preferential treatment to a CBI employee who was found to have used a racial slur on body-camera, according to the release.

Later anonymous allegations accused Schaefer of using discriminatory language himself and of business misconduct.

“While the allegations appeared vague, non-specific, and/or untimely on the surface, they were of the nature that merited further review,” Hilkey said in a Feb. 24 memo regarding the investigations’ findings.

The first allegation investigated was a claim that Schaefer used a racial slur during a conversation with coworkers around 2008-2010. Multiple agents told investigators that this incident did not occur, leading to the allegation being deemed unfounded.

The second allegation was that Schaefer made a “condescending comment about Governor Jared Polis’ sexual orientation in approximately 2018,” according to the memo. An agent who was around at the time of the alleged incident said it did not occur and the reporting party could not remember the specific statement.

The allegation was deemed unfounded, as well.

Other allegations included Schaefer not taking time off at CBI while working in other business ventures, attempting to force an agent’s retirement due to their race and Schaefer pressuring an agent about an information leak to media — all considered unfounded by the investigators.

Regarding potential preferential treatment of the employee using a racial slur — investigators said the allegations lacked merit. 

The employee was also disciplined and required to complete included racial sensitivity training. The employee’s promotion was cancelled and he was reassigned, according to the release.

“As the Appointing Authority for Director Schaefer, I reviewed the information contained in the four reports produced by (EMFIG) and determined each issue to be unfounded or not sustained, and I conclude that there was no wrong-doing on the part of Director Schaefer in each of the matters,” Hilkey stated in the memo.

CBI added that though none of the allegations were sustained, the investigation was “treated seriously in an effort to determine what improvements CBI can make as an organization.”

CBI said that Schaefer removed himself from the investigation and did not exert any influence during it.

The news release did not mention the Yvonne “Missy” Woods case — that shook the CBI to its core with shredded credibility and will end up costing Colorado taxpayers millions.

Woods, a former Colorado Bureau of Investigation DNA analyst, was booked into jail on a 102-count felony indictment on Jan. 22 after it was disclosed in November 2023 that scientist had deleted data, skipped steps and manipulated DNA evidence in more than 1,000 instances over her nearly three-decade career.

The investigation into Woods started in September 2023, just months after Schaefer became director in February.

“While I always planned to exit the Department of Public Safety on the heels of my 30-year anniversary with the organization, it was critical to delay this announcement until the conclusion of the independent, third-party review. ” Schaefer said in the release. “I want to emphasize that I have not been asked to retire. In fact, I have received nothing but support from my colleagues with the Department of Public Safety.”