Hefty gun belts, K9 units and blue uniforms don’t seem to be enough to scare away most of the children in Glenwood Springs. Lucky for Officer Kalyn Hurst Farnham, fielding questions and admiring stares from kids is her favorite part of working for the Glenwood Springs Police Department. 

“They see you, and they are so excited,” Hurst Farnham recalled. “They’ll wave to you, they want stickers … it’s just amazing to see their eyes light up like that.” 

Despite receiving her badge only two months ago, Hurst Farnham has already collected several memorable experiences while working the department’s night shift, mostly thanks to the unique summer environment of Glenwood Springs. 

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Originally from Carbondale, Hurst Farnham started her career in law enforcement as a code enforcement officer with the Glenwood Springs Police Department. She was introduced to the role by her brother, an officer for the Silt Police Department (and former Glenwood Springs officer), and saw it as an opportunity to gain some experience until she was old enough to enter the academy. 

“I was too young to go to the academy so I thought it would be a good foot in the door to get my way in here,” she said. 

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Police Chief Joseph Deras approached Hurst Farnham in October 2023 and said the department would be willing to send her to the academy, and she accepted. Hurst Farnham entered the academy through Colorado Mesa University in January 2024 and graduated in May. 

“It was probably a lot more intensive than a regular college semester, we had about 700 hours of training and we did it in 17 weeks,” she said. 

Hurst Farnham graduated at 21 years old — the minimum age requirement by the state to purchase and own a handgun. 

“I’m probably a little bit on the younger side, most everybody in my class was 22 and older,” she said. “Not many people get into it at 21 just because they’re still experiencing life and everything, a lot of them are in college.” 

Hurst Farnham said she’s no stranger to judgmental comments about her age during traffic stops and other exchanges, though the way she conducts herself in her role is enough to disprove their misconceptions. 

“I have gotten the ‘you’re too young for this job’ comment a couple of times,” she said, sitting in the department conference room at 8 p.m. on a Friday. “When you’re 21 … you do all the partying and stuff, so I think that people see me as that kind of person, but I’m just not.”

Growing up with guns

Having done competitive shooting for roughly 13 years starting at the age of 4, Hurst Farnham was more than acquainted with how to use a firearm and its accompanying safety precautions. Her parents, who both served in the military, decided they would teach their children how to use a firearm “the right way.” 

At the time, Hurst Farnham hadn’t yet considered a career in law enforcement, despite her experience with firearms. Instead, she expressed interest in cosmetology and working as a veterinarian. 

“Growing up, I never wanted to be a cop,” she said. “But it definitely helped having that background … not having to start from the bottom line, like never having shot a gun, was definitely a benefit.” 

Although she was confident she didn’t want to go into the military, Hurst Farnham shared her family’s drive to help other people, even if her approach looked a little different. 

“(The military) wasn’t for me, but I still wanted to do something … like a veterinarian. They help, not necessarily people, but they help,” she explained. “I wanted to do something … where you feel like you’re making a little bit of a difference, even if it’s a small difference. You’re still doing something actively to try to improve your (community).” 

“I knew I wanted to be like a first responder of some sort, so I brought up to my brother that I possibly wanted to go to the EMT Academy, and he … kind of just swayed me toward policing,” Hurst Farnham continued. 

Those like Hurst Farnham with a desire to help others, however, often have to deal with both mental and physical challenges. 

“We deal with some very difficult situations, and that can weigh heavily on your mental health,” she said. “… Most of the time when we’re contacting people, it’s the worst part of their day, if not the worst part of their life. We’re dealing with that every single day.” 

A challenge partially unique to Glenwood Springs is its language barrier. Being a tourist destination, Hurst Farnham said she’s encountered visitors from all over the world and can struggle to communicate when enforcing municipal code or in other situations. 

“The average person doesn’t know Russian, or doesn’t know Mandarin,” she said. “We constantly have people coming up to us and asking questions, except, you know, I can’t understand them.”

The influence of a mother

Despite the challenges of the job, Hurst Farnham finds the strength to face them head-on by one of the most influential people in her life: her mother. 

“Anytime something gets kind of rough, it’s always like … she’s not here, but she’s still proud,” Hurst Farnham said. 

Hurst Farnham’s mom, Julie, passed away from heart failure in September 2023 while the family was on vacation in Yellowstone National Park. 

“As much as the situation sucked, she just wanted to go to Yellowstone one more time, so she got to see Yellowstone,” Hurst Farnham said. “So I think, since she had to go, I wouldn’t have asked for a better way for it to come about.” 

“I wasn’t prepared at all in the slightest,” she continued. “Like most people, any big turn in your life, you call your mom. But I’ve kind of settled for the fact that even though she’s not here, she’s still here.” 

After Hurst Farnham’s parents divorced when she was six months old, it was her mother who raised her. 

“My mom was a huge impact on my life,” she said. “She was the only person I really had (growing up).”  

Although her mother passed away before she entered the academy, there’s no doubt in her mind that she, along with the rest of her family, is proud of the way her life has unfolded. 

“They’re all super proud … everyone came down for the graduation except for my siblings that are out of state,” she said. “There’s always the ‘be safe’ comments, this job can definitely have its more dangerous moments.” 

Although people outside the field can never truly understand what it’s like to be a police officer, there’s something Hurst Farnham said she hopes more people can understand:

“We’re human too,” she said. “Even though we pulled you over for whatever reason, at the end of the day we go home and we still have families. We’re just doing our job.” 

A lot of the time, being prepared means thinking about the “when,” rather than the “if.”

“Maybe we pulled (someone) over today for whatever reason, but an hour and a half ago we were at an active robbery. In two days we’re going to be trying to save a little kid from the river,” she said. “Whatever the situation is, I think a lot of people don’t realize how big this job can be.”