The Managing Partners of KRW
Lorne C. Kramer, MPA
Lorne Kramer has 46 years of government service. He served as the City Manager of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a city of over 425,000 people for 6 years. He also served as a Deputy City Manager and the Police Chief for 11 years. During his tenure as City Manager Mr. Kramer was successful in reorganizing municipal operations; addressing significant fiscal shortfalls; orchestrating the Public Safety Sales Tax Initiative focused on public safety projects throughout the city; gaining citizen support for the Rural Transportation Authority; implementing the Stormwater Enterprise and enhancing the Development Review process and Economic Development. While Chief of Police, the Colorado Springs Police Department received national recognition for many progressive and innovative programs and accomplishments in the areas of crime reduction, gang abatement and community partnerships. His academic accomplishments include a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Redlands, California. He has been recognized by the Colorado Springs City Council and numerous civic organizations for leadership, collaboration and community partnership. He is the co-author of TOTAL Problem-Oriented Policing and the author of several professional articles. He is the former Executive Director of the Colorado Springs Leadership Institute.
Jerry Williams, DPA
Dr. Williams spent over 20 years as a public sector executive as well as program director for a key graduate leadership program at the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado at Denver. In addition to his experience in the selection of executives as the Chief of Police for the cities of Arvada and Aurora, Colorado, he has been involved in local government executive job search executive search consulting since 2001. He holds a D.P.A. from the University of Colorado at Denver, a M.C.J. from C.U. Denver and a B.A. in History and Sociology from Metropolitan State College in Denver. Dr. Williams is the former Director of the Executive Leadership Masters in Criminal Justice (ELMCJ) program. Dr. Williams was the Principal Associate for the Institute for Law and Justice in Washington D.C. He has held Executive Director positions in two universities. He has over 30 years of experience in the criminal justice field. He was the President of the Police Executive Research Forum and Chairman of the National Commission on Law Enforcement Accreditation. Dr. Williams was also a member of the National Institute of Justice series Perspectives on Policing held at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, (1989-91).
Lynn Johnson
Lynn Johnson has over 42 years in law enforcement; 20 years at the command and executive level. Lynn retired from the Arvada Police Department in 2016 as a Deputy Chief of Police, having served as Chief in both Operations and Administration Divisions. Lynn began his career in 1974, serving in a variety of assignments including Patrol, Traffic, Investigations, Drug Enforcement and Internal Affairs. During his career Lynn has supervised or managed Police Records, Property and Evidence, Police Communications, SWAT and Accreditation. Lynn has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Fort Lewis College. Lynn is a graduate of the 204th session of the FBI National Academy and the 24th session of the Drug Enforcement Administration National Training Institute. Additionally, Lynn attended The Senior Management Institute for Police and is a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program in 2007. Lynn is a graduate of the Leadership in Police Organizations course and instructed the Organizational Leadership portion of the course. Lynn served as the Chairman of the Jefferson/Broomfield Emergency Communications Authority for 8 years and served on the Jefferson County Community Corrections Board. Lynn served as the Interim Chief of Police in Durango Colorado for six months after his retirement from The Arvada Police Department.
Our Associates
Gina McGrail
Senior Associate
Gina McGrail spent 27 years working for the Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado (FPPA), a multi-employer public pension system serving over 400 public employers and 12,000+ members. From 2006 until her retirement in 2017, she served as FPPA’s Chief Benefits Officer and led the teams responsible for benefits administration, communications, member and employer education and affiliations. As a member of the executive team, she was very involved with strategic planning and setting priorities for the annual legislative and rules making initiatives. During her tenure, she led and participated in many search processes for staff members and contractors and RFP’s for vendors. Prior to serving as the CBO, Gina worked in roles with increasing responsibilities in the areas of benefits administration, field education, and accounting. Before joining FPPA, she worked in insurance and banking.
Gina holds the designation of Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Specialists, offered through the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She earned a B.A. in Speech Communications from the University of Northern Colorado, and an A.A. in Marketing and Management from Northeastern Junior College.
While working in the public pension industry, Gina was active in the National Pension Education Association (NPEA), National Association of Governmental Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA), the Institutional Investors Forum, the International Society of Certified Employee Benefits Specialists (ISCEBS)-Colorado Chapter and the Special Districts Association Leadership Institute. She is currently active in the Junior League of Denver (JLD), she also earned her Certified Nursing Assistant license and is involved with organizations that assist the disabled. Gina is a Colorado native, and enjoys living in Denver with her spouse Dave and children Caroline and Joseph.
Mark Collins
Senior Associate
Mark has over 30 years of local government experience, including city/county management duties in Grand Lake, Gunnison, Routt County, Colorado and Laramie and Sheridan, Wyoming. He also served as the Associate Vice President for Administration at the University of Wyoming, overseeing all operational elements of the 785-acre campus. He received his bachelor’s degree from Denison University and earned a M.S. in Natural Resources Management and Master of Public Administration from the University of Wyoming. Following graduate studies, he began his professional career in parks and recreation, including employment with the National Park Service. Mark has been an adjunct professor in public administration at the University of Wyoming, University of Colorado-Denver and Western State Colorado University. He also has extensive experience in facilitating strategic planning retreats for cities, towns and special districts.
Doug Abraham
Public Safety and Policing
Doug Abraham just concluded his 43rd year in law enforcement with two agencies and 23 years at a command or executive level. Beginning his career in 1975 with the Aurora Police Department, he served as Chief of Investigations, Police Operations, and the Support Services Divisions. He served in a variety of assignments including Patrol, Investigations, Internal Affairs and commander of the Neighborhood Policing Section. Doug retired from the Aurora Police Department in 2004 to become the chief of police for the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus until he retired in 2017. He recently served as the interim chief of police for the University of Colorado Boulder. Doug is a graduate of the 191st session of the FBI National Academy and has his Executive Leadership Masters in Criminal Justice. He served on the board of directors for the Rocky Mountain HIDTA and was the chairperson of the 18th Judicial District Community Corrections Board. Doug also served as the vice president of the Colorado Association of Institutional Law Enforcement Directors. He has been the keynote speaker at the International Association of Institutional Law Enforcement Directors and at the Association of University Chief Security Officers of the United Kingdom annual conferences. He has also presented at numerous regional higher education conferences and institutions. Doug has participated as a subject matter expert and consulted with the U.S Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Larry Borland
Public Safety, School Security and Organizational Management
Larry Borland retired as the Administrator for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2020. In that role, he was responsible for all for all administrative services; police and fire communications services; emergency and wildland fire services; and public information services. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is the largest sheriff’s office in the State of Colorado, with over 800 sworn and non-sworn staff, and a budget of approximately $67 million. Prior to assuming the position of Sheriff’s Office Administrator, Mr. Borland served for almost 20 years as a school security chief for three of the largest school districts in the State of Colorado, where he was responsible for all facets of school safety and security, including campus safety officers, district patrol officers and emergency preparedness planning and response. Mr. Borland does school safety training and consulting nationwide. Mr. Borland served in several sworn and non-sworn positions with the Colorado Springs Police Department and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in his early career. Mr. Borland served from 2014-2018 on the Board of Education in Academy School District 20, with a student population of over 24,000 students.
Mary Dodge, PhD
Qualitative and Quantitative research, survey and questionnaire development and evaluation of results, research project design
Dr. Mary Dodge earned her Ph.D. in 1997 in criminology, law and society from the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine. She received her B.A. and M.A. in psychology from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She is a full professor at the University of Colorado Denver in the School of Public Affairs. Her research articles on white-collar crime, policing, victimization, and gender equity/inclusion have appeared in the American Journal of Criminal Justice, Women & Criminal Justice, International Journal of the Sociology of Law, Police Quarterly, and the Journal of White-Collar and Corporate Crime. She and Gilbert Geis co-edited the book Lessons of Criminology and share authorship on the book Stealing Dreams: A Fertility Clinic Scandal. She is also the author of Women and White-Collar Crime. Dr. Dodge was the 2007 recipient of the campus-wide University of Colorado Denver Excellence in Teaching Award. She received the School of Public Affair’s Teaching Award in 2001, 2005, 2006, and the Research and Creative Activities Award in 2002 and 2004. In 2011, she received the SPA and University’s awards for excellence in service. Her applied and policy research involves collaboration with local police departments and national law enforcement agencies including, for example, organizational assessments, focus groups with victims, system responses to sexual assault victims, driving under the influence of marijuana, and research with California POST.
Alvin J. LaCabe, Jr., Esq.
Public Safety and Legal Counsel
Al LaCabe has been involved in law and law enforcement for over forty years before joining the government executive search agency. He served as Manager of Safety for the city of Denver, and was responsible for all aspects of the operations, policy development, budgeting, training, hiring, and discipline for the entire 3,600 member Department of Safety which includes the police, fire, and sheriff departments. During his tenure as Manager of Safety, he conducted training at the Denver Police and Sheriff academies and headed or participated in processes to revise the Department’s use of force policies, reorganize the 9-1-1 Combined Communication Center, gain voter approval and implement construction of the new Denver Justice Center, create the Office of the Independent Monitor, revise recruitment and hiring policies, revise budget policies and increase professionalism and accountability through various methods including the revision of the Department’s disciplinary processes and creation of a written Discipline Handbook and discipline matrix. Prior to serving as Denver’s Manager of Safety, Al’s career spanned 33 years as a Patrol Officer and Detective with the New Orleans Police Department, an Agent of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, a Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney, a supervisory Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Colorado and as Of Counsel with the Denver law firm of Davis, Graham and Stubbs. He has served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Denver College of Law, an award winning member of the faculty of the National College of District Attorneys, and has conducted training for prosecutors and law enforcement officers across the country. Al is also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
Sam Mamet
Legislative Advocacy, Training, Policy Development
Sam Mamet was the Executive Director of the Colorado Municipal League (CML) for 14 years until his retirement in 2019. CML is a statewide non-profit membership organization of 270 cities and towns, providing technical assistance, legislative advocacy, training and policy development. Prior to his 40+ years with CML, Sam’s experience included: management analyst for Clark County, Nevada and the Nevada Association of Counties, where he lobbied on behalf of county government interests in the legislature; research analyst for the Pennsylvania Local Government Commission of the Pennsylvania Legislature; and research analyst for the Governmental Research Institute of Cleveland, Ohio. Sam received a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Colorado/Boulder and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. He has been an adjunct faculty member in the Political Science Department of the University of Colorado/Denver, where he taught courses on municipal government, state politics and public policy. Mamet has co-chaired the Government Affairs Policy Committee of the International City/County Management Association and has served on the National League of Cities Board of Directors. He served on the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Colorado. Sam has received numerous awards recognizing his contribution to public service. Most recently he was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Colorado City/County Managers Association for his many contributions to local government.
Patricia Woodin
Public Safety, Executive Search and Organizational Assessment
Patricia Woodin spent 32 years as a member of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. She retired from that agency in 2017 at the rank of Division Chief and served in a variety of assignments during her tenure. She culminated her career in managing the detention facility with a multimillion-dollar budget and over four hundred employees. She was a member of the Jefferson County Strategic Planning Committee responsible for the coordinated operations between the Sheriff’s Office and the criminal justice system.
As the Criminal Investigations Division Chief, she led the criminal investigations team and supervised all investigations’ progress and ultimate outcome and supervised all investigators assigned to the FBI federal task forces. As a board member of the Colorado Information Sharing Consortium, she ensured Colorado agencies received access to all state and national criminal justice information.
Patricia was successful in operational assignments as the Patrol Captain for the south precinct. As the South Precinct Captain, she led a county contingent of Jefferson County entities in creating an interdepartmental off-site location for the sheriff’s office and other county resources. She routinely managed critical incidents such as barricaded subjects, school shootings and other complex scenes.
As the Professional Standards Lieutenant, she reviewed all internal affairs investigations as well as the reaccreditation for the agency in CALEA and ACA. She created multiple analyses to ensure department polices adhered to all current lawful law enforcement best practices.
Throughout her 32-year career, she instructed in junior college law enforcement academies, private educational institutions, the Colorado Sheriff’s of Colorado Supervisory Institute, and the Jefferson County Law Enforcement Academy in a variety of disciplines.
Patricia holds a master’s degree in criminal justice, School of Public Affairs from the University of Colorado, Denver. She also attended and successfully graduated from the Senior Management Institute of Policing (SMIP), as well as The Rocky Mountain Leadership Academy, AELE Conference for Legal Issues, and Critical Incident Command System.
After her retirement from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, an opportunity became available to provide law enforcement mentorship and guidance to the newly appointed Sheriff for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Woodin conducted an initial assessment of the Lake County agency and delivered a detailed roadmap for the new leadership to follow and offered a multitude of resources to achieve positive results. The consulting relationship continues and Woodin is moving toward policy development for the agency.
Alan C. Youngs, Esq.
Public Safety and Legal Counsel
Chief Youngs retired after 33 years with the Lakewood, Colorado Police Department. He is an Attorney at Law and a licensed member of the Washington, DC Bar, US District Courts in Colorado and Nebraska, International Trade Court, Court of Appeals for the District and US Supreme Court. Chief Youngs is a certified litigation specialist and member of the board of directors for Americans for Effective Law Enforcement (AELE). A member of IACP, Chief Youngs is a member of committees for Investigative Operations, and Professional Standards. He also serves on committees for the Bureau of Justice Law Enforcement Leadership Initiative and the FBI’s Futures Working Group. Chief Youngs works with the American Society for Industrial Security as Chair of their Interpol Committee and member of their Law Enforcement Liaison Committee. He has completed operational reviews for numerous police and corrections agencies across the US. Chief Youngs has also served extensively in international endeavors: performing audits, due diligence and inspections in Israel, Palestine and Jordan; and served as police advisor to the program director in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Paraguay and Peru. Chief Youngs is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and a published author of numerous articles on law enforcement topics.
Stacey Hodges
Associate
Stacey Hodges earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Kansas. She has spent her career in various supervisory and managerial roles, where she was involved with staff recruitment, screening and hiring, as well as general administration duties. Stacey works part-time as the Program Director for Houses for Warriors, a Colorado based nonprofit that provides vital resources for veterans experiencing homelessness. Here she is involved with strategic and business planning, community outreach, fundraising and direct client support services. As an Associate with KRW Associates, Stacey assists with administrative duties as well as applicant screening, communication and outreach.