Deputy police chief has no regrets at end of long career

Deputy Chief Steve Liebowitz was once in the cross hairs of a cop-killer’s rifle scope while riding in a helicopter. He only found out after the fugitive was arrested, looked at Liebowitz and said, “I’ve seen you before.”

He nearly crashed in another helicopter while getting an aerial view of the Hayman fire in June 2002.

That is a lot of high-flying excitement for a someone who opted for the police department after discovering he’s afraid of heights while testing for the fire department.

Liebowitz, who retired Friday after 30 years with the Colorado Springs Police Department, hasn’t had to leave the ground to find danger.

He was shot at. His patrol car has been hit by drunken drivers at least five times.

His commitment to the department has meant sacrifices for his family over the years, but Liebowitz would do it all over again.

“It is a passion,” he said. “You wake up each morning and you want to go to work. And I’ve done that every single day. You go in early and you stay late.”

Liebowitz started his career in 1979 at age 22 after selling jewelry at Zales. His roommate at the time, now Cmdr. Brian Grady, was on the force and inspired Liebowitz to do something more with his life.

He was promoted to sergeant in 1988, and lieutenant two years later. After overseeing the construction of the Stetson Hills subdivision, he served as its commander from 2003 to 2005.

Liebowitz has spent the last four years as deputy chief of the operations support bureau, overseeing investigations, undercover operations and the special patrol divisions such as canine and the helicopters.

He spent much of his career working on traffic safety, investigating around 300 fatal accidents.

Liebowitz was involved in traffic task forces after 7-year-old Joel Blair was run over by a beer truck while walking to Jefferson Elementary in 1989. The city had no crossing guards at the time and Blair’s death led to an outcry and campaign by Blair’s father. “Joel’s Patrol” was born, and today the city has 129 crossing guards.

Out of those community discussions, the Drive Smart program was born.

“We’ve shown statistically that our crash rate has been declining consistently over the years,” he said. “And for a city our size, and the number of vehicles that are out here, it is a testament to Drive Smart, it is a testament what the police department has done to focus on enforcement and education and working with traffic engineering to work on an issue that impacts everybody in this community.”

At 53, Liebowitz isn’t planning on taking a winter home down south and golfing every day.

“There are a lot of other opportunities out there. I’m hoping to be more of an advocate for community awareness,” he said. “Enhancing the public’s awareness of issues that impact our community is important. Everybody should do that.”