a CALL FROM DISPATCH COMES OVER THE RADIO, late morning on a Saturday: A man with a gun— possibly multiple weapons—has been spotted by a trail runner at the Chautauqua Overlook. The air is warm, 75 degrees, and getting warmer. College kids and families are out enjoying the 155-mile network of trails that make up Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP), owned, operated, and patrolled by the city of Boulder, Colorado.
The trail originates in a residential area—nice houses. Expensive houses. New construction, the occasional four-car garage, owners who work for the tech companies that have changed Boulder’s demographics over the past twenty-five years.
Two rangers head up Flagstaff Road, a few blocks from the parking area. The trail is steep— Boulder locals like it because they can get a good workout in just a few miles.
When the rangers finally see the suspect, off the trail and sitting on a rock that drops off to a steep cliff, they realize it’s a kid. A teenager who looks just a little older than some of their own kids, wearing a rifle across his chest. A military-grade canvas bag droops by his side.
One ranger takes a deep breath and talks to the kid like a father would. Calmly. Asks the kid how he’s feeling. Where he lives. What’s in the bag.
Others respond. More rangers. The Boulder police. There are two dispatch centers that Boulder rangers are tied into with their radios, the city and the county of Boulder. So they hear any call that comes in about an incident on OSMP property and interact with the responding personnel. They also have a ranger on call who gets paged after hours to respond to emergencies in the park. Local law enforcement receives the same calls, but when a crime or a suspect is on OSMP land, rangers tend to be able to get there the fastest—they know the trails and the entire area so well.
This story is from the September 2021 edition of Esquire.
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This story is from the September 2021 edition of Esquire.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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