A SUCCESS STORY

New Kimball Police Chief Jose Ruiz has a wealth of knowledge not only from his years of experience with the Cheyenne Police Department but also from growing up on the south side of Denver in Adams County.

Growing up, Ruiz said their family was impoverished, and the culture he was raised in centered on violence, gangs and drugs. Ruiz said his mother tried to keep "us away from as much as she could," but in the end Ruiz said he decided himself that he "didn't want to have the life that his brother and dad had chosen."

Ruiz could have gone down that same path, but he credits a teacher when he was 14 years old for having an interest in him and helping him choose the right direction.

Sports was his outlet and a way out of the only life he had known. He played baseball and football and worked after school. Finally, he received a scholarship in baseball and football from Breyer Cliff College in Sioux City, Iowa.

The first thing you notice when meeting Ruiz is his professionalism, and that is what he is searching for to fill the Kimball Police Department. He said, "Just because it is a small department doesn't mean it can't be professional."

He is doing in-depth background investigations on all applicants, including even finding out how they act off duty and what their neighbors think of them. He said he is searching for the best quality officers.

Ruiz's police philosophy is pretty simple. He says we are all "human beings at the end of the day," and it is best to treat people the way you want to be treated.

But don't count on Ruiz being a pushover. He is tough and serious about the job he has been entrusted to do.