Since his early days as a deputy in the county jail, Jeff Shrader has climbed through the ranks during his almost 30-year tenure at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
As the Jeffco GOP pick for sheriff, there are few issues facing the county that Shrader isn’t aware of.
“Being efficient with the resources I don’t think is any secret,” Shrader said in regards to deputy attrition rates. “There are some challenges, and it goes well beyond the sheriff’s office, it’s really a county government- wide issue.”
He has supervised divisions throughout the sheriff’s department, from Patrol and Investigations Divisions, Detentions Division and Support Services Division which gave him the opportunity to manage the sheriff’s office’s $90 million budget. He is currently a division chief for special projects including the $34.8 million construction project that will replace the Sheriff’s complex’s central heating and cooling systems while creating more space for “court holdings” and create a regional forensic crime lab.
Shrader is proud for taking part in the development of the project but not for the political decision to spend almost $35 million to fund it.
He developed the Strategic Management and Accurate Response Tactics or SMART Jeffco, a program designed for deputies, supervisors and command level ranks to help them identify current crime conditions and implement crime-reduction techniques.
Ultimately, Shrader has a long resume filled with creating and supervising projects, and being involved with a variety of functions and responsibilities while receiving continued training and education. His issues for his campaign include keeping schools and residents safe, protecting constitutional rights, ensuring efficiency with department resources and protecting businesses. In the nearly three decades he has worked at the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office, Shrader has worked for five sheriffs and has experienced more than one school shooting.
“Making sure that our schools are safe I think is paramount in the society that we live in,” he said. “I’m inspired by the events that I’ve been involved with that relate to school violence and our need to make sure the we’re doing everything that we possibly can that is reasonable to make sure that the schools are safe.”
His position as division chief for special projects will wrap up at the end of the year after construction is completed. This summer, the regional crime lab will officially open for operation.
“Part of my commitment is to make sure that Jefferson County is as safe as it possibly can be, that means that we have to keep a capable workforce in place,” he said. “We may have to reset some of the priorities that we have in order to do that.”
“There is only one candidate who has proven leadership experience and that’s me.”
For more information about Jeff Shrader visit www.shrader4sheriff.com.