Colorado Mounted Rangers
| Colorado Mounted Rangers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common name | Colorado Rangers | ||||||
| Abbreviation | CMR | ||||||
Shoulder Patch
|
|||||||
Ranger Badge
|
|||||||
| Motto | Protecting and Serving Colorado Since 1861 | ||||||
| Agency overview | |||||||
| Formed | 1861 | ||||||
| Preceding agency | Jefferson Rangers (1859-1861) | ||||||
| Volunteers | Yes | ||||||
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency | ||||||
| Jurisdictional structure | |||||||
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of Colorado, USA | ||||||
 |
|||||||
| Map of Colorado | |||||||
| Size | 104,185 square miles (269,840 km2) | ||||||
| Population | 5,456,574 (2015 est.) | ||||||
| Legal jurisdiction | As per operations jurisdiction. | ||||||
| General nature |
|
||||||
| Operational structure | |||||||
| Rangers | ~200 | ||||||
| Cadets | ~15 | ||||||
| Agency executive | Colonel Ronald M Abramson, State Commander | ||||||
| Parent agency | Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management | ||||||
|
|||||||
| Website | |||||||
| http://www.coloradoranger.org/ | |||||||
| Footnotes | |||||||
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |||||||
| Notables | |
|---|---|
| Person | Edward P. Bell, Ranger, for being the only ranger to be killed in the line of duty. |
| Significant operation | Law Enforcement Auxiliary |
The Colorado Mounted Rangers, also historically known as the Colorado Rangers, are a statutory state law enforcement auxiliary that assists law enforcement and other first responder agencies across Colorado.
Rangers annually provide more than 50,000 volunteer hours to the State of Colorado supporting local police and sheriffs departments by providing additional Peace Officer resources in times of need. Rangers are unpaid and the Auxiliary is not funded by tax dollars. The Rangers are the oldest statewide law enforcement organization in Colorado, originally organized in 1861 by the Colorado Territory.
The Rangers trace their roots to the Jefferson Rangers, keeping the peace in the unofficial Jefferson Territory during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush.
In 1861, as the Colorado Territory was established, they were reorganized as the Colorado Rangers continued to serve as Colorado's only statewide law enforcement agency through the 1920s. The Colorado Rangers were fashioned after the well known Texas Rangers and served as both law enforcement and state militia.
The Colorado Rangers often fought on horseback with repeating revolvers and were instrumental in the Battle of Glorieta Pass, helping to stop the Confederate advance towards the Colorado Gold Fields. This battle has become known as the "Gettysburg of the West" for its importance to the Union victory.
After the Civil War, the Colorado Rangers returned to their law enforcement duties. From time to time the Rangers were also called upon by Colorado's governors to keep the peace during times of civil unrest, natural disasters, and during disputes such as the violent Labor Wars in Colorado's mining towns. The Rangers where also responsible for the Columbine mine massacre in 1927. The rangers where accused of firing machine guns into the crowds of miners during the shooting, however the rangers disputed that.
...
Wikipedia