JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — The Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) seasonal park ranger, accused of stabbing himself in an "elaborate hoax," worked briefly as a police officer in Lafayette before the police department moved to terminate him.
Callum Heskett is facing several felony and misdemeanor charges. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said he stabbed himself in the abdomen with his pocket knife at Staunton State Park, then created a false story about how he got his injuries. Court documents say Heskett told authorities a man at the park attacked him after the man cursed about "the police." CPW said Heskett was working as a seasonal park ranger.
Denver7 obtained records from the City of Lafayette, showing Heskett briefly worked as an officer for the Lafayette Police Department. Heskett applied to the department in June 2023, according to his employment application Denver7 obtained through a public records request to the City of Lafayette. However, Lafayette Police Chief Rick Bashor made steps to terminate his employment after Heskett failed to pass field training, according to a termination letter.
New officers typically go through several months of field training after they graduate from a police academy. The hands-on training period happens under the guidance of field training officers.
In the termination notice dated July 3, 2024, Chief Bashor said Heskett's training officers decided he did not demonstrate "sufficient proficiency in critical areas needed to be a police officer." The notice said despite extensive training, guidance and support during orientation and training, the department determined Heskett did not meet the required standards for the field training, evaluation program and the police department's standards of conduct.
The City of Lafayette said the termination notice was rescinded because Heskett resigned in lieu of termination. Heskett's resignation letter shows he resigned from his position on July 3, 2024, which is the same day he received the termination letter from the chief.
Denver7 spoke with Chief Rafael Gutierrez with the Louisville Police Department, a neighboring agency that's similar in size to Lafayette, about why law enforcement agencies may agree to give officers the chance to resign instead of being terminated.
"If there's a resignation in lieu of termination, then typically that kind of flags it as maybe that employer is providing that new officer or that new employee with an opportunity to separate, but not necessarily, like lose their certification, or things of that nature," Louisville Police Chief Gutierrez said.
For Gutierrez, it can be concerning to see a job candidate who has resigned in lieu of termination from a previous department.
"I think anytime that there is somebody separating as a result of a termination, whether it's for performance... or disciplinary action, certainly that does give me pause, and I would want to do some additional investigation into why that would have occurred," Gutierrez said.
For his department, there are many reasons new officers may not pass field training. Gutierrez said it doesn't happen often, but it happens.
"There's a wide variety of criteria that we evaluate a new trainee on when they're coming into our field training program. So it's, you know, certainly their ability to manage calls for service, to do things safely, to handle the call load, to obviously, deliver good customer service," he said.
The Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) public database shows an officer named Callum Heskett is still certified as a peace officer in Colorado. A POST certification is given after someone completes at least 558 hours of training through a POST-approved basic academy, passes a POST certification exam and a background check, according to updated 2025 standards.
Denver7 reached out to the City of Lafayette for more information about why the department made the move to terminate Heskett's employment and if his resignation, in lieu of termination, was reported to Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), the government office that oversees the certification and training of all peace officers in Colorado.
The City of Lafayette confirmed to Denver7 Heskett worked at the police department from Oct. 2, 2023, to July 2, 2024.
Natalie Miller, a spokesperson for the city, said she could not give any more details about his employment because it is a personnel matter. She said once an officer leaves the department, the police department documents their reason for leaving through the POST electronic portal.
