Joint Jurisdiction: A Win/Win/Win Situation for CFD, the Military, and the Community

Friday, the joint Transportation and Military committee of the legislature will take a look at a bill that the chamber, military and the community have been advocating for over the last few months.  Simply put, the bill will allow the military and the state to negotiate an MOU that will give local law enforcement jurisdiction on certain portions of FE Warren AFB and potentially other military facilities around the state.

Why is it a win/win/win?

CFD would like to build a new parking lot on fed land across I-25 on federal property.  Last year, the legislature put 4 million dollars toward this worthwhile project.  Joint Jurisdiction is an important step in making the project a reality.  The bill would allow local law enforcement to respond to any incident at the parking lot (a job the military wouldn’t and shouldn’t do) and is a necessary step for the project to succeed.  The success of this project would save CFD money, provide more safety in the avenues, and solve a long term parking problem for the organization.

A win for the military.  There is a lot that the military is good at; world stability and the strategic deterrence mission among them.  Dealing with juvenile justice problems and domestic violence issues are not at the top of this list.  Joint Jurisdiction allows for many of these issues to be handled in the civilian court system and provides a good solution for dealing with some problems that fit better outside of military operations.

A win for the community.  Cheyenne is proud of its military heritage.  Joint jurisdiction provides a unique way for us to support our military families and support them as part of our community.  A big drive for us here at the chamber is not only the care of men and women in uniform, but also their families.

The military is something Cheyenne is very proud of.  Additionally, the military contributes hundreds of millions of dollars annually to our economy.  Whenever we can make life better for the military and solve an ongoing problem with CFD, it truly is a win/win/win situation!

Go deeper: To learn more about Concurrent Juvenile Jurisdiction, check out these resources from the Department of Defense.