Two new Craig police officers to hit the streets soon

After raising their right hands and repeating their oaths, the city of Craig has two young, new additions to its police force.

At their regular meeting Tuesday night Dec. 10, Craig City Council joined Craig Municipal Judge Heather Cannon in swearing in Officer Dalton Caudell and Officer Daron Hashir.

Caudell and Hashir graduated from the police academy Dec. 6 after the city of Craig invested the money for them to attend.

“We could not find good candidates who were certified, so we sent these two individuals to the academy to become certified,” said Craig Police Chief Jerry DeLong in an interview Monday.

Hashir is originally from New Mexico.

“Before she came to Craig, she worked in the hospitality industry in New Mexico, then she came to Craig with her fiancé Bobby Howard, who is the athletic director at the high school,” DeLong said at council’s meeting Tuesday night. “When we were talking to her, we were concerned about it. She told us it was her turn to make her career. That’s why she’s sitting here and she’s one of our new officers.”

Caudell is originally from Texas.

“Dalton — I gotta give him this — came from Texas. I’m an Oklahoma fan and we know how that ended up this weekend,” DeLong said Tuesday. “He’s from Texas, grew up there. Then he came to Gunnison to go to college at Western State. Then he met Lexi (his significant other) in 2017. They came to Craig. She works for the school district as the seventh grade science teacher. She likes coaching gymnastics at Rising Star. As you can tell, he’s pretty fit. He likes riding dirt bikes and working on cars and trucks. Prior to becoming a police officer for us, he was a diesel mechanic at a local dealership. As you might tell, out of the 68 recruits at Flat Rock, he was number one in the physical part of the training.”

Craig Police Captain Bill Leonard said both scored well on their peace officers standards and training test, the final exam for peace officers in the state of Colorado.

“I’m very proud of both of them,” Leonard said. “Out of the 68, they both scored above 90 percent on their POST test. That POST test is very difficult, the peace officers training and standards test for the state of Colorado. They both should be commended for that.”

Both will hit the streets of Craig soon as working police officers.