Ranking LPD officer takes top cop job in Grand Junction

Division Chief John Camper

LAKEWOOD – Lakewood Police Division Chief John Camper, who has been serving as Grand Junction’s interim police chief since September, will take the reins of that city’s police agency permanently.

Camper was hired Tuesday, according to Grand Junction City Manager Laurie Kadrich.

Camper’s temporary assignment was arranged between the cities to fill the gap left when former Grand Junction Police Chief Bill Gardner announced his pending resignation last summer.

Camper will be paid $120,032 a year plus benefits, according to Kadrich.

And Grand Junction will repay Lakewood taxpayers for Camper’s salary while he served in the West Slope city.

Camper’s salary became an issue when, shortly after the agreement between the two cities was announced, the Edge reported that Lakewood would pay Camper’s salary while he worked for Grand Junction.

The tab eventually hit about $43,000, according to sources familiar with the deal.

Lakewood City Manager Kathy Hodgson said Wednesday that Grand Junction will reimburse Lakewood, but the exact details are yet to be arranged and the tab will depend on when Camper takes over as Grand Junction’s top police officer.

Hodgson said the $43,000 figure “is close” but she is certain the amount will be under $50,000.

Hodgson said she has been discussing the matter with Kadrich “and what she has agreed to do is to reimburse us in full for what our costs were and what we paid to John while he was there.”

The city originally agreed to pay the bill for Camper to work for Grand Junction on the premise that the experience would provide the absent police administrator with skills that would benefit the operation of Lakewood’s police team when he returned.

“The difference now is that he isn’t coming back and we’re not benefiting from the lessons he learned and the experiences that he got there,” Hodgson said.

“It’s a lot of talent” to lose, Hodgson said of Camper’s departure. “But it’s a good thing for Grand Junction and it’s a good thing for him.”

News that Lakewood would pay Camper while he worked elsewhere didn’t sit well with number of taxpayers or with Ward 4 City Councilmen Adam Paul and Doug Anderson, who since has left office. Both praised Camper’s skills, but they expressed disappointment with the arrangement during the Aug. 10 City Council meeting shortly after the deal was made public.

Camper was paid $113,880 a year as head of the Lakewood Police Department’s Patrol Division.

He joined Lakewood’s police team in 1981 and later served as a patrol officer, public information officer, crime-prevention agent and as a detective in the Crimes Against Children unit. Camper, 50, also served as a supervising sergeant in the Internal Affairs and Theft Investigation units. After a promotion to Commander in 1999, he directed the LPD Communications Center and was a Watch Commander.

In 2004, Camper was promoted to Division Chief, leading first the Support Services Division and then the Patrol Division. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business Administration and graduated from the Senior Management Institute for Police.

Camper is a Grand Junction native and is a 1977 graduate of Grand Junction Central High School.

When Camper’s assignment to the West Slope city was announced, Lakewood Police Chief Kevin Paletta described his departing division chief as “an outstanding leader” who possesses “a wide variety of professional and personal talents.”

Camper started the temporary job Aug. 31, five weeks after Gardner announced his resignation July 22.

“I am extremely excited to have been given this opportunity and I look forward to many great things ahead,” Camper said in a statement released by Grand Junction. “I have been impressed from day one by the commitment these professionals have to serving Grand Junction and I am proud to be a part of this team.”

Hodgson, who was appointed City Manager shortly after Camper’s assignment to Grand Junction was announced, said his departure leaves a gap in the LPD leadership, but offers an “opportunity,” as well.

“Even though it’s a loss for Lakewood, there’s a great opportunity now for police agents within the organization,” Hodgson said.