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Vail police win international award

VAIL, Colorado ” Keeping thousands of kids from partying on Bridge Street in Vail, Colorado every New Year’s Eve and Fourth of July has earned the Vail Police Department an international community policing award.

The department won a community policing finalist Award from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Vail was recognized for its longstanding “Vail Police Preserving Life and Property Initiative.” During the two major holidays, police, residents and business owners became increasingly concerned as crowds grew larger and more volatile through the years. For example, in 2000 the New Year’s Eve crowd grew to an estimated 10,000 mostly underage revelers.



For the last several years, the town and the police have closed off Bridge Street to the under-aged on those holidays and enforced a curfew.

“We’ve recognized our successes are built on good communication, teamwork, support and change,” said Vail Police Chief Dwight Henninger. “In contrast to years past, there has been upwards of a 90 percent decrease in arrests and incidents during these festivities.”

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The Vail Police Department includes 29 officers and 37 civilian personnel who handled 42,622 calls for service in Vail in 2007. Input from the community and Vail’s visitors are regularly solicited through community service surveys.

For more information about Vail’s community policing programs, contact Henninger at (970)479-2218.


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