Heroes Agency Instructor Spotlight
Sergeant Cole Britton — Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office
Cole has worked with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office for just shy of 21 years. He began his long and exciting career there as a corrections officer in the jail in 2005 and was promoted to Corporal in 2008, becoming the first supervisor to oversee both the jail and dispatch. As the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is a small department, everyone there plays multiple roles. For Cole, this means that in the shared Dispatch Center for all emergency services, he takes 911 calls, in addition to his regular jail duties. In 2008, recognizing the need for cost-effective transportation of incarcerated people across very rural and spread-out territory, Cole joined forces with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in a cooperative effort called Transports Across Colorado (TAC) to do so at no charge. He served on that organization’s Board of Directors from 2010-2019. After being POST-certified in 2019, he started attending Colorado Sheriff’s Association meetings in 2020, was promoted to jail Sergeant in 2021, and was then given Patrol Authority. In January 2025, Cole was appointed Director of Courthouse Security.
Cole has seen firsthand how the stress of life and work affects people. He was able to quickly intervene to get a colleague help when someone hinted at potential suicide and feels very fortunate that his department handled the situation well, preventing tragedy. Sadly, though, Cole’s family suffered the worst imaginable loss when his oldest son took his own life in September 2024. At this point, the idea of peer intervention became very personal to Cole because he felt extremely isolated and hoped that returning to work after a few weeks would help him regain a sense of normalcy. He learned that when people didn’t know what to say, they avoided him. After some time had passed, his Sheriff acknowledged changes needed to be made within the department to support staff who are dealing with crisis and took steps to do so. Cole was grateful for this change – it highlighted for him that sometimes the smallest action can cause a huge and life-changing reaction.
To unplug, rest, and recharge, Cole’s favorite activities are bowling (he once bowled a perfect game!), tending to the goats on his small farm, researching his family’s genealogy, and spending time doing anything his 8 grandchildren ask him to do. One of his absolute favorite activities over the past 15 years is playing Santa at the preschool where his wife teaches.
Cole was trained as a Heroes Agency Instructor in July 2025. He is looking forward to sharing this training with colleagues in Colorado. Having always believed that “proactive is better than reactive,” he says about teaching the curriculum that “so much of teaching this is personal. I know what it feels like to be on the other side of traumatic things. Others may not fully understand what someone is going through, but just opening the door to let them talk is the first step to helping.” He hopes that adopting the Heroes program will reinforce for everyone that accountability and personal integrity are the key to everything and that it is everyone’s responsibility to prevent harm.
The Heroes team is extremely grateful to have Cole as an instructor. He brings incredible humanity, warmth, and empathy to his teaching. We look forward to working more with Cole as he shares the benefits of this program with colleagues in Colorado.