Boulder police Deputy Chief Carey Weinheimer has left the department for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, replacing longtime Undersheriff Tommy Sloan.
Sloan, who has been with the sheriff’s office for more than 34 years, will retire on Friday.
“Tommy Sloan has been a tremendous leader, manager, friend and confidant,” Sheriff Joe Pelle said in a statement. “We have run the sheriff’s office in a partnership fashion, and as undersheriff, Tommy has primarily managed all the business operations of the sheriff’s office. He has mentored and trained a new generation of leadership, and as any good leader should this includes his replacement.”
Sloan joined the sheriff’s office in 1988 after serving in the U.S. Army. He was appointed to sergeant in 1994, operations division patrol commander in 2004, division chief in 2013 and then to undersheriff in 2016.
Over his law enforcement career, he has been involved in numerous high profile and significant incidents including responding to the Columbine High School shooting, the Hill riots, numerous homicide cases, drug cases, and a fugitive hunt for suspects who killed a police officer in Cortez.
Sloan and Weinheimer actually both started at the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office on the same day, July 5, 1988. Weinheimer will be sworn in as undersheriff on Friday.
For the last 32 years, Weinheimer has been with the Boulder Police Department.
He served as the interim police chief following the retirement of Greg Testa and was a finalist for the chief position that ultimately went to Maris Herold.
“The Boulder Police Department was honored to be able to celebrate his tenure last month, and we appreciate everything he did for Boulder Police Department,” Boulder police said of Weinheimer in a statement. “Weinheimer is continuing his law enforcement service with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office as the undersheriff, and we look forward to continuing to work with him in this new role.”
While Weinheimer will begin serving under Pelle, he was ultimately the selection of Division Chief Curtis Johnson, who won the primary election to replace the retiring Pelle and is the only candidate for the position in November’s general election.
Both Johnson and Weinheimer worked together for a number of years at the Boulder Police Department and were both finalists as deputy chiefs for the position of police chief.
“Carey represents the next generation in executive management at the sheriff’s office,” Pelle said. “He is Curtis Johnson’s pick to serve as his undersheriff in the next in-coming administration. Tommy Sloan’s retirement gave us the opportunity to bring Carey on early, and orient and train him for several months prior to my retirement. Our hope is to provide a seamless and smooth transition in administration for our employees and the community. I am very pleased to appoint Carey to undersheriff and confident in his skills and ability.”
As for the Boulder Police Department, Cmdr. Ron Gossage is currently serving as the interim deputy chief of support services while they conduct a search for a replacement.
“Last year, the department embarked on a search to fill the deputy chief of operations vacancy, and we anticipate following a similar process,” Boulder police said in a statement. “We were pleased with the mix of internal and external candidates who applied for that process, and we hope to have another talented pool of candidates to consider. The city of Boulder is currently updating its hiring and recruiting technology, potentially delaying the process, but we want to move forward as soon as possible.”
