Sheriff of Chaffee County announces retirement

(CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo.) — Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze announced his retirement after a 44-year career in law enforcement and a decade as Sheriff of the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO).

On Tuesday, Sept. 10, Sheriff Spezze announced his retirement as Chaffee County Sheriff, ending a tenure that started when he was first elected in 2014.

“Having grown up in Salida and raised my family here, I know and love this community very deeply. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve Chaffee County as Sheriff for the past 13 years. This has been a tremendously difficult decision to retire, but due to recent health concerns, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time,” shared Sheriff Spezze.

Sheriff Spezze’s career started in 1981 when he was hired as a patrolman with the Salida Police Department (SPD), where he worked for three years before joining the Denver Police Department (DPD) in 1984. Spezze took a detective role at DPD in 1989 then became Sergeant in 1993.

Spezze then moved into the Office of the Chief of Investigations, before taking an assignment with the FBI, running joint corruption investigations. Spezze’s final phase of his career with DPD was supervising the Neighborhood Police Program, along with narcotics detectives and undercover operations, before retiring from the DPD in 2010. Spezze then joined the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office as Undersheriff in 2011.

Following Spezze’s announcement at the regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, Undersheriff Andy Rohrich was named as Sheriff for the rest of the 2024 – 2026 term by the Commissioners. Rohrich has been serving the CCSO since 2002 and has been Undersheriff for four years.

Commissioner P.T. Wood said, “We are incredibly grateful to John for the many years of dedication to the people of Chaffee County and for the many ways he has supported the evolving needs of the community over his three-term tenure. He’s spent his career taking care of others and now it’s time for him to take care of himself. We wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement.”

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