While I was going through this, not a single call from a supervisor asking how I was doing. So much for the ‘Thin Blue Line’ crap… There is no Blue Line, just in case you were wondering…
— from a Facebook posting by former Archuleta County deputy Floyd Capistrant
A couple of weeks ago, my daughter Ursala mentioned some Facebook postings by Floyd Capistrant, formerly with the Pagosa Springs Police Department, also formerly with the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office.
“Have you read his story?” she asked.
I reminded her that I stopped visiting Facebook about two years ago… after coming to the conclusion that the Facebook business model was not only unethical, but also dangerous to society.
Ursala has also tried to disengage from Facebook, on a couple of occasions, but has found it challenging to detach herself. Habits are often hard to break.
I had seen Floyd Capistrant around town, over the past 20 years — most recently, when he signed a political petition I was circulating in 2019. He might have written me a traffic ticket once, when he was still working for the Pagosa Police Department. But I try and forget about those types of occasions.
His story was easy enough to find on Facebook. (I still keep an account there, “for research purposes only”.)
The story begins like this:
To my friends and fellow officers, past and present, here is my story.
I want my voice to be heard. I will not go quietly into the night without people knowing my story is real… that the people playing the parts are not acting… and this is not okay. Some of you know I was injured, but the journey doesn’t end there.
On February 6, 2019, I was injured in the line of duty when a vehicle struck my patrol car. After several rounds at the hospitals with injections into my spine, hip and leg to address the pain caused by my injury, nothing worked. I was further injured by a chiropractor and a physical therapist, but the State of Colorado and Workers Comp failed in its mission to ensure I was whole again before leaving me to the wolves of society to fend for myself.
Moving forward, the medical staff that have treated me have been kind and wonderful; they are doing what they can to make me stronger which is a blessing. I am grateful for all they are doing for me.
I will not and refuse to take narcotics — well-documented to be highly addictive — plus they’re expensive and not worth the total damage it could do to a person’s body. So Advil and a little dirt, plus walking it off, helps with the pain… and this is what I get for being stubborn and wanting my mind to stay sharp.
My friends who have helped me: you know who you are and I am forever in your debt, humbled and grateful.
Even though my life and career or lack thereof has changed, I will always be a police officer at heart, even if my injuries prevent me from serving. I will always stand up for what’s right and allow true justice to be served and not discredit my position of honor and duty.
Floyd Capistrant started at the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office in January 1999 as a dispatcher. “They liked my work, and after about two and a half years, they sponsored me and sent me to the Police Academy. I served as the animal control officer for a while, and not long after, became a deputy.
“Then a position came open for the Town [Police Department] working under Police Chief Don Volger.” He eventually became a corporal there.
In 2015, he applied for a position with the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office. I asked him why he would want to make such a move.
“At the time, Sheriff Valdez had just been elected. You know, I’d been with the PD for almost 13 years… One of my fellow police officers had been working the road since I was hired, and was happy to have retired, but that was not what I wanted to do… spend my life as a patrol officer… because I was younger, I wanted to strive for something different, and when the opportunity presented itself, I took it.
“A detective over at the Sheriff’s Office, a long-time friend, wanted me to come over. ‘Hey, man, you can make more money, become a detective, you don’t have to be a patrol guy for the rest of your life.’ Dangling that carrot.
“So I went over. Did great. I think I was there for for less than a year on patrol, and they promoted me to detective. I had a choice between either patrol corporal or detective. I’d never been a detective before, so I took that offer.
I was later promoted to the Narcotics Detective for Archuleta County.
“Then my friend got fired… an incident down in Arboles… he was a scapegoat. That’s when they brought in a new Operations Manager… which made my life a living hell, from Day One. That’s my personal opinion.
“So after several write-ups from the new Operations Manager… they didn’t fire me, but they put me back on patrol. All my [previous] performance evaluations had been great; I had never had a bad review from my supervisors.
“But I did patrol. Didn’t mind it.”
He became the Field Training Officer, training the new deputies in the law, and how to handle situations.
“And then February 2019, I get hit by the car.
“I was parked at a stop sign, and she came around the corner and BOOM, right into the back of the car…”
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.