For the City of Rifle’s newest police officer, law enforcement is a family affair. Born an identical twin and raised in Southern California, Kelli Litzau always knew she wanted to be a police officer. She attended Mt. San Antonio College where she received an Associate of Science Degree in Criminal Justice. Kelli continued her education in California’s bay area where she met her husband, Timothy. They added two boys to the mix, Owen and Cole, before relocating back to Tim’s home state of Colorado.
Following their lifelong dreams to become police officers, the Litzaus began their careers in law enforcement on the western slope. Tim recently celebrated five years as an officer with the City of Grand Junction. Kelli served two years as a civilian with the Grand Junction Police Department before accepting an officer position with the City of Carbondale.
Kelli has a passion for taking impaired drivers off the road. Over the course of only one year (2018) while with the Carbondale Police Department, she had an amazing 35 DUI (driving while under the influence) arrests. Litzau says she looks forward to continuing her passion for drug and alcohol enforcement on the streets of Rifle as well as educating youth on the risks of drugs, alcohol
and addiction in the Rifle school system.
Rifle Police Chief Tommy Klein was impressed with Kelli from the start. He gave her accolades for not only her DUI
arrests, but her community service and bright personality.
“We are very excited to have her as part of the City of Rifle family,” stated Klein. It’s a sentiment echoed by Kelli’s fellow officers.
“We are very happy to have her on board. We are looking forward to sending her to Drug Recognition School this spring. She has proven herself to be a very effective DUI enforcement officer,” commented Sergeant Kirk Wilson.
Given her skillset and sunny
disposition there is no doubt she will be an asset to Rifle’s police force. So if you see her out and about, be sure to say hello and welcome her to Rifle.
Rifle Rapport is a periodic column featuring the people and projects of the City of Rifle. If you have suggestions for future articles, please contact Kathy Pototsky at 970-665-6420 or kpototsky@rifleco.org.
