DougCo DA Investigates Sheriff's Department Official

"In my opinion, the whole bid was a sham," said Dave Carson, co-owner of Xybix Systems.

Xybix is a Colorado company that specializes in building and developing consoles from which 911 dispatchers do their work.

Late last year Carson put in a bid to update the emergency call center for Douglas County, and told 7NEWS, "I just want a chance to compete."

Carson believes he never had that chance and the nearly $200,000 contract went to one of his primary competitors called Watson Dispatch.

After completing the new call center, Watson Dispatch ran a national ad campaign featuring the state-of-the-art center, along with an endorsement from the head of the Douglas County Sheriff's Department's chief of administration, Mike Coleman.

In the ad, Chief Coleman appeared in uniform.

It was Coleman and his subordinates who helped select Watson Dispatch as the winning bidder.

Coleman also heads Douglas County's emergency telephone service authority, also known as the 911 Board.

It was that board that allocated the money for the new call center.

Call7 Investigators have uncovered Coleman's connections with several outside consulting firms and representatives of Watson Dispatch.

It begins with Coleman's private business, called "Consultant Connection." He essentially markets consultants to public agencies like the Douglas County Sheriff's Department.

Among the clients Coleman promotes are a firm called 911 Solutions, which received $62,500 in Douglas County business in the last two years.

Another of his clients, PSAP Logic, picked up contracts worth $37,500 and Coleman is the designee assigned by the 911 Board to administer those contracts and approve the work.

Coleman also markets a company named Progress Marketing Group which is, according to the Watson Dispatch Web site, the representative for Watson Dispatch in Colorado. As we mentioned, Watson Dispatch is the company that received the almost $200,000 contract to update the new call center.

Call7 Investigators have obtained e-mails showing Progress Marketing Group was in the loop, along with Coleman, in the process of obtaining the contract.

Carson told 7NEWS, "You have no right to be involved in a decision like that if you have a potential for benefiting from any of these people's actions. You have a conflict of interest."

Douglas County Sheriff Dave Weaver told 7NEWS, "We want the public as well as the media to understand that we take these things very seriously and they will be investigated."

Weaver said he did not know about any of Coleman's connections until 7NEWS told him about them and he said he was stunned Coleman had not disclosed any of it while the contracts were up for bid.

Weaver turned the matter over to his internal affairs division and contacted the Douglas County district attorney.

Coleman is cooperating with the investigation and told 7NEWS he has nothing to hide and believes he has done nothing wrong.

Because there is an ongoing investigation, he could not speak to us, but did say he will do an interview after the investigation is complete.

Three weeks ago, Coleman gave notice of his retirement to the Sheriff's Department.

There is no allegation that Watson Dispatch or any of the outside consultants have done anything wrong or unethical.

What is under investigation is whether Coleman had an obligation to report any potential conflict between those organizations and his personal business.