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July 8, 2021
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 15 | SPORTS: PAGE 16
VOLUME 17 | ISSUE 3
Remembering Officer Gordon Beesley Friends recall a caring husband, father, dedicated colleague — and drummer BY RYAN DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Officer Gordon Beesley was going through motorcycle training with the Arvada Police Department when he was asked to maneuver through an obstacle course, round a cone and return at speed as part of a test. Beesley completed the course, approached the cone and laid the motorcycle down to round the cone before the bike “high sided” and sent him airborne. Beesley landed “like a cat,” picked up his bike and finished the test “with a smile,” according to Dave Snelling, Beesley’s longtime colleague at the APD, where Beesley worked for 19 years. “He’s just one of those amazing humans,” said Snelling. “You literally could not make him angry. Every time you saw him, your day just got greater. The thing I love about Gordon the most — he was 6’2”, 6’3” — he referred to me as “Little Davey.’”And he was the only one I couldn’t get mad at for it.” Beesley was killed on June 21 in Olde Town Arvada by a gunman who left behind writings proclaiming his hatred of Arvada police. Beesley’s tenure with the APD — where he served as a school resource officer (SRO) at Oberon Middle School, Lincoln Academy and Excel Academy Charter School while working patrol in the summers — made him a visibly beloved figure in the community. “You’ll have cops that grow their image around the badge,” said Snelling. “I think the badge grew an image around Gordon. And Gordon humanized the badge. He had just as many friends outside the business as he did inside, but (being a police
A woman places flowers on the memorial for Officer Gordon Beesley.
officer) wasn’t his identity when the uniform came off. “He just liked the work,” Snelling continued. “Really, whenever he put that uniform on, you can’t help but see that there was a man behind that badge, not just a cop. That made him a fantastic cop.” Outside of work, Beesley was known as a caring husband and father, avid mountain biker and talented drummer in local bands such as Brethren Fast, which draped an American flag adorned with the band’s name on the memorial outside of Arvada City Hall, and the Railbenders. Patti Danford, the vice principal at Oberon Middle School, where Beesley most recently worked as an SRO, went to the Dark Horse in
PHOTO BY RYAN DUNN
Boulder to see Beesley play with one of his bands. “He was great,” said Danford. “It was so fun to see him in that environment. I took my husband and told him, ‘That’s Officer Beesley,’ and he said, ‘Wait, that’s the police officer you work with?’ And I said, ‘Yes, that’s Gordon.’ I’m really glad I was able to go see him do that; something he really loved.” The Railbenders said they were not in a place to discuss Beesley after his passing but called him “the nicest guy you could ever know” in an email to the Arvada Press. “Gordon was a founding member of our band and played on our debut record,” said Railbenders lead SEE BEESLEY, P2
Officer Gordon Beesley
COURTESY OF APD
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