The law enforcement community is rallying behind the Arvada Police Department, taking calls and patrolling the streets as the city mourns the death of a 27-year-old police officer killed in the line of duty. 

Officers from other cities began pitching in to help the department on Sunday, a few hours after Dillon Michael Vakoff, 27, was killed while responding to a domestic disturbance call that morning.

Officers from Wheat Ridge are signing up for extra shifts to help patrol the area of 52^nd and Marshall, where Vakoff was killed after he and another officer responded to the call.

The second officer, who has not been named and was not physically hurt, is on administrative leave following the fatal shooting. That officer and Vakoff both fired shots, according to sources familiar with the investigation, and just as a Crisis Intervention Response Team investigated the fatal shooting of Beesley and a Good Samaritan who died in that shooting, a CIRT has already been assigned to the case as well.

Other police departments that are loaning out their officers and patrol cars include Westminster, Jefferson County Sheriffs, Lakewood, Golden, and Broomfield.

“Everybody wants to help,” Wheat Ridge District Chief Jim Lorentz said. “It’s a punch in the gut because many of us knew Dillon. And even if you didn’t know him, there’s a kinship with other law enforcement officers.”

Lorenz said Tuesday would be the last day that the Arvada Police will need help, but Wheat Ridge will step up again if asked for Vakoff’s funeral, just as they did for Beesley’s.  

Volunteers with the Fallen Hero Foundation have been working around the clock, planning Vakoff’s funeral and advocating for the slain officer’s family, according to Lakewood Police Public Information Officer John Romero.

Romero himself said he got the call at 3:45 a.m., Sunday to help Arvada organize media requests. 

Vakoff’s death comes at a time when it is already hard to recruit law enforcement.

According to the Colorado Peace Officers and Training website, there are at least 90 job openings in law enforcement around the state offering pay from $20 per hour to be a sheriff deputy in Rio Blanco County to as much as $96,000 yearly in Loveland.

Aurora Police are offering a hiring bonus of up to $15,000, which includes a possible $4,000 retention guarantee, and if needed, as much as $5,000 in moving expenses.

“There’s incredible competition,” Arvada Police Public Information Officer Dave Snelling said about Arvada looking to hire around 30 officers for a force which usually operates at around 200.

As Arvada adjusts to the loss of Vakoff, the man accused of killing him is scheduled to be advised of the charges against him Tuesday afternoon in the Jefferson County Courthouse.

Arvada Police recommended eight charges for Sonny Thomas Almanza, 31, including suspicion of first-degree murder of a peace officer, with extreme indifference; murder after deliberation; illegal possession of a weapon by a previous offender; child abuse; and other counts.

The Arvada police department continues to take calls, including a second degree assault which happened Monday.

“Crime doesn’t stop for us to mourn,” Snelling said.