Deputies provide security at the bus terminal

BUS STATION DEPUTIES: At the downtown bus terminal last Friday afternoon, there was a uniformed El Paso County Sheriff’s deputy on duty. Why is the Sheriff, and not the Colorado Springs Police Department, providing the law enforcement presence in the heart of downtown Colorado Springs?
- J.T.

ANSWER: The bus system, Mountain Metropolitan Transit (Mountain Metro), contracts with the sheriff’s office to provide security at the downtown bus depot during certain parts of the day, according to Sgt. Jim Groth. “It’s extra duty performed by our deputies. It’s a contract, not a jurisdictional issue,” Groth said.

Both the sheriff’s office and the police department have extra-duty offices. One of the extra duties performed by the police, Groth said, is funeral escorts that are contracted by funeral homes. Police who direct traffic on Sundays outside large churches are also extra-duty officers under contract.