MONTE VISTA – Sean McDonagh is excited to be Monte Vista’s new police chief. McDonagh and his family moved to Monte Vista from Rocky Ford.
“The former police chief did such a wonderful job here,” McDonagh said. “I feel good here. It’s such a professionally run city. I feel very welcomed here. I look forward to trying to maintain what the chief has done, and safety is my number one concern always.”
McDonagh was born and raised in Australia where he became a law enforcement officer. McDonagh held several different positions in law enforcement in Australia, including being part of an intelligence response team, he was highway patrolman, and a commander and a supervisor. McDonagh moved to the United States in 2016. He has traveled all over the 50 states with his family since moving to the U.S. McDonagh moved to Colorado in 2022.
McDonagh was most recently the chief of police in Rocky Ford, where he helped rebuild a police force that only had three officers on staff when he started.
“I had taken that department from being nothing short of a mess, to being fully staffed with a waiting list, when I decided to leave,” he said.
When McDonagh heard of the vacancy in the Monte Vista Police Department, due to Chief George Dingfelder being hired in the same role in neighboring Alamosa, McDonagh decided to apply for the position and got it.
“I decided to rejoin law enforcement because of the recruitment and retention issues that are so prevalent throughout the country at police departments. I was retired from Australia, but I am not a citizen here, so there are only certain places in the country that I can work legally, Colorado is one of those places that’s why I landed here,” he said.
McDonagh's introduction to the community was during the Ski-Hi Stampede. He talked to a lot of people during the event.
“I made a full effort for Stampede,” McDonagh said with a chuckle. “What I understand from speaking with members of the public is that drugs are a real issue. The police department is really focused on that issue. I want to work on that.”
McDonagh said that he is involved in working on bills that are going through legislation, mentioning that many police chiefs network in Colorado, once a week, to talk about the bills, and how they can support them.
“I think it’s important for us in these rural areas to represent ourselves in this legislative stage, otherwise the big cities dictate what happens otherwise. It’s important to work with other chiefs on any laws that could benefit Monte Vista,” he said.
McDonagh said that he is also big on networking because he has seen a lot of positive changes come from it.
“One thing I did in Rocky Ford was repair a lot of relationships that were severed with issues at the department. I rectified those relationships for them with the FBI, local agencies, and CBI. These are very important relationships to have. I am big on networking,” he said.
McDonagh said community involvement is important for him.
“We need the community as much as the community needs the police department. That is how we achieve common goals and optimum public safety, is by working together,” he said. “I know that it is such a broad term (public safety), but we need to use the powers that we are vested with to improve public safety.”
McDonagh also spoke of the importance of having good interactions with adults in the community and with children.
“Children really need that good interaction, as sometimes their first interaction with law enforcement can dictate their overall perception and can be negative. I want to improve that overall perception by interacting with kids in a positive way at an early age,” he said.
McDonagh said that the previous chief left the agency in a great place, and he is looking forward to building on that.
“It’s a very friendly place and I am enjoying it. I enjoy the community a lot. Community engagement balances out the negative sides of the job that we all experience. It makes you realize that there are still good people in the world. I am happy to be here,” he said.
