Colorado Department of Corrections parole officer Shane Fuchs isn’t in town this week. He probably doesn’t even know that his name made front page headlines, or that his “power trip” has caused a lot of unrest in our small community.

Fuchs, employed full-time in this region since October, has been publicly criticized for his s0-called “over the top” and “out of control” tactics. Several Moffat County Jail inmates contacted the Craig Daily Press to express their feelings about Fuchs and their relationship with him following a protest on Victory Way on Wednesday. Parolees seem to share the same feelings — “Fuchs is tough,” “Fuchs is a bully” and “Fuchs is just looking for a way to throw parolees back in jail.”

The reality of a being the disciplinarian for parolees in two rural counties is that Fuchs is “over the top” busy — he handles 75 parolees in two counties and stretches to keep up with the caseload. Not every parolee is guilty of violating parole — those who aren’t probably don’t have a problem with Fuchs. Given his current caseload, Fuchs would have to visit with 2.5 parolees per day just to make contact with all of them in a month. This doesn’t include the time he spends working the same cases over and over, or accepting new parolees to his already taxed caseload.

We understand that Fuchs might take advantage of opportunities to punish those who make minor slip-ups — and make an example of them — but those who don’t slip up don’t have to worry about paying any unfair consequences.

The bottom line is that Fuchs is catching these offenders — that’s what he’s paid to do.

Life isn’t fair and whether or not parole is revoked may not be either, but those who choose to break the law have to accept the fact that they will be under the watchful eye of the law until they are no longer perceived as a threat. Take responsibility for your actions — if you get yourself in trouble, get yourself out of trouble.

Craig Police Chief Walt Vanatta said, “Their actions are what got them on parole, not us.”