FREMONT COUNTY — "I was physically ill when I got the notification on Friday," said Fremont County Undersheriff Derek Irvine.
That's what Fremont County Undersheriff Derek Irvine told me in June during my second interview with him in a little more than a year to find out how yet another inmate escaped from his jail.
The latest one was caught on jail surveillance video on June 7 of this year when Irvine says Kegan Van Vliet ran out of the inmate intake area. Less than 12 hours later, investigators caught the 45-year-old near I-25 and Woodmen Road in Colorado Springs.
Dianne Derby: How did this happen?
Undersheriff Irvine: From the preliminary investigation that we've completed inside the facility at this point, and, granted, this is an active investigation so I can't go into specifics, but one of the first issues we found was we believe that there was a software and a hardware issue with the door controllers for the facility.
Dianne Derby: What is the backup plan when the software fails?
Undersheriff Irvine: Manual manipulation of the locks.
Dianne Derby: Have you ever had that problem before?
Undersheriff Irvine: Not to my knowledge, you know, but again, I've only been back here at the office since 2019.
Irvine told me he could not share more than that until the investigation was complete. About six weeks later it was, but I quickly learned the public would not be learning the specific details anytime soon, like why an inmate who was already in jail was allowed in the intake area, if any deputies were nearby at the time, and who, if any, staff members have been disciplined or removed from their duties. In an email to me the Undersheriff said, "The report is complete. However, after conferring with the District Attorney's Office, we have been advised not to release it as it is pending criminal litigation. The Fremont County Attorney concurs." The Undersheriff went on to say the disclosure would be "contrary to the public interest." The response cites a Colorado law that says the office can deny records regarding intelligence or security procedures.
In May of 2023, two other inmates were captured hours after Irvine said they escaped from the jail when they took out the trash.
How did two inmates escape Fremont County Detention Center?
At the time, they were considered what is known as "trustees," more trusted inmates at the jail. I asked what was being done to keep it from happening again.
"At this point I have an audit going on for the security concerns for our facility," Irvine said. "We're looking at the trustee program itself, who is selected, who gets picked, which assignments they get based off their charges."
But it did happen again. So I asked the same thing again.
Undersheriff Irvine: One of the measures that we've taken is anytime there's an inmate out on the booking floor, there is going to be a staff member out on the booking floor. Also, we're not trusting the automatic locking mechanisms for the sallyport doors coming into the facility in the booking. So, those doors will be manually locked and unlocked by a staff member.
Dianne Derby: How moving forward do you deal with the morale in your department? Is that your responsibility?
Undersheriff Irvine: I believe it's every one of us. It's all of our responsibilities to to deal with that and address it.
The company that provides the software program used at the jail is Johnson Controls. Earlier this summer a spokesperson told me they were investigating the matter and would offer support to the sheriff's office. Today a spokesperson told me they are not involved in the investigation but would not elaborate. We will continue to follow up on this story and share the results of the investigation when they are released.
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