Thornton Police Then & Now
Where We Were
In May of 1956, Thornton officially became a city, and the City Council named a seven-man police department that worked for six months without pay, using their own cars to respond to calls. The first paid policeman went on duty March 1, 1957, and Oscar Hill was appointed the city’s first full-time police chief. The first permanent police station was located on Dorothy Boulevard. In 1976 the first Medal Of Valor was given and the first female officer was hired. In 1983 the police department moved from Dorothy Boulevard to the Civic Center (a site formerly know as 9-mile hill), and employed 91 officers
Where We Are Now
In 2004, the police department moved to a new Justice Center building at 9551 Civic Center Dr., which today is called District 1. In 2016, City Council approved a budget amendment for the immediate addition of 25 additional sworn officer positions with an additional 25-30 sworn officer positions to be added the following year.
In 2018, the police department officially opened its second facility, District 2, at 13150 Quebec St. This is a joint facility with the fire department and serves the residents north of 112th Avenue.
There are currently 259 authorized sworn police officers, and 80 professional staff working for the department. Our police department strongly emphasizes community involvement and is committed to providing high quality police services. The police department serves a community of approximately 145,440 residents and is led by Police Chief Terrence Gordon. The City of Thornton is the sixth largest city in the State of Colorado and the police department is the fourth largest metro police department.
Where We Are Going
TPD opened a state-of-the-art training facility located at Riverdale Road and Colorado Boulevard on December 1, 2022. Our facility has advanced scenario-based simulator training, a slow-speed driving skills pad, defensive tactics training areas, large classrooms to host outside training, and eventually will have an indoor shooting range.
The new 17,269 square foot police training facility will combine aspects of physical, mental and technological training for the modern police officer. Training areas will be provided to improve and practice skills needed in police training through the lenses of theory, fitness and real-time critical thinking of how scenarios can be de-escalated through safe, thoughtful communication.