Durango Police Officer Jonathan Mizner grew up in Florida and worked as a Manatee County sheriff's deputy before hiring on in Durango, and he relishes the differences between the two environments.
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As a Manatee County, Sheriff's deputy
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in Florida Durango Police
Officer Jonathan Meisner ,
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dealt with suffocating,
heat, humidity, hurricanes,
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and manatees, and boy does
he relish the difference
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living in Durango.
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You're watching the local news networks,
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First responder spotlight,
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celebrating the men and women
who keep our community safe.
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Brought to you by the
Bank of the San Juan's
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one big happy little bank,
serving Durango Colorado.
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Officer Meisner, moved to
Durango about a year ago,
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realizing a lifelong dream to live
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in the mountains and to
serve in law enforcement.
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As a kid, he used to ride along
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on police patrols with family, friends
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and he often visited Durango
area relatives in summer.
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I've always loved the mountains,
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when you grow up
somewhere flat, going back
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it's tough because there's no landmarks.
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You can't look up and see the sky,
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see the mountains in the background
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you just see trees and you know
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what's right in front of you
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there's nothing past that.
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Meisner's road to Durango
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and policing was somewhat circuitous.
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He graduated from the
university of South Florida
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with a degree in Business Management
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and spent several years
in the corporate world
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before he decided to
enter the Police Academy.
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After graduation, he
quickly hired on as a deputy
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in his home County where he
dealt with all of the usual
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kinds of cases that any
community might have
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except perhaps rescuing stranded manatees
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washed ashore during hurricanes,
no manatees in Durango
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but patrol officers
occasionally answer calls
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about troublesome bears or
rescuing a deer stuck on a fence.
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Yeah, it was, it was one
of those it's like, huh
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I've never dealt with this before,
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you know, how do we, how do
we get a deer off offense?
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I've never figured this one out, but...
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When he's not working
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Miser takes every opportunity
to go camping or hiking
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or to capture that perfect
scenic shot with his camera.
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When he's on the job, Miser
encourages Durango residents
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to pay attention when they're driving,
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and to treat each other with kindness
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Drive safely, slow down, you know
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pay attention to your surroundings
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I mean, that's, that's got to
be one of the biggest issues
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everywhere that you go,
people just not using
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appropriate caution when they're driving
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and losing sight of what they're doing
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and you know, causing accidents
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and causing people to get hurt.
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You know, the majority, the
vast majority of accidents
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are avoidable and usually it's something
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as simple as just slow down
and if you're in doubt,
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maybe don't pull out into traffic
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maybe don't make that turn,
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maybe wait a second, you know,
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maybe wait for better opening and traffic
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whatever it might be.
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That would be one of those
that we'd all benefit.
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If everyone did that, be kind to people.
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I mean, just to, to go out and to try
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to put yourself in other people's shoes
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to try to understand what
they're going through,
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and to show greater appreciation
for others around you.
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Thanks for watching our
First Responders Spotlight
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brought to you by the
Bank of the San Juan's
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and the local news network.
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I'm Wendy Graham settle,
be safe out there.
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There's a certain type
of person that thrives
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in Colorado strong, independent, fierce.
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We should know we were born here.
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Bank of the San Juan's
one big happy little bank.
