From CBS Colorado "kid reporter" to Arapahoe County Sheriff's sergeant
From highlighting stories in the 90s that featured kids and their interests, to now being a member of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office for over 20 years, Sgt. Ron Luton reflects on his time as a young journalist, and how that led him to become a law enforcement member.
From 12 to 15 years old, Luton was a young journalist who reported for CBS News Colorado. His journalism career started after his mom took him to an education expo that was sponsored by the station with auditions being held on the spot for "kid reporters."
"I did audition and there were a couple of callbacks in which I had to see if I could read a teleprompter and then had another audition with a co-anchor, and then I was selected to be a kid reporter," said Luton.
With the help of a photojournalist and producer, Luton was tasked with sharing stories weekly for CBS that Colorado kids were interested in.
"Whether it was museum exhibits or how kids should save their allowance, how to run a lemonade stand, anything that would interest kids or that somebody thought was cute," said Luton.
Staff at CBS News Colorado pulled some of Luton's stories from the archives.
"Let me reintroduce myself. I'm Ron Luton, warrior in a new world," Luton said in one of his stories about a virtual reality fun space. "It's a world of virtual reality, with a power pack on my back, and a high-tech helmet over my head, I have all I need to survive."
"Whales are the giants of the sea and at the Natural History Museum in Denver, this exhibit bring them to life," said Luton, while reporting on whales at the museum.
But his most memorable story was at the Gilliam Youth Services Center.
"It was on kids that are charged with crimes and are locked up and that was the side that I had never seen before the juvenile justice system, and that was something that opened my eyes," said Luton.
His experience as a young journalist eventually led him toward an interest in law enforcement.
At 15 years old, he also started working with the Aurora Teen Court and became an explorer with the police department.
"My first ride along, I was hooked and that was what got me interested in police work," said Luton.
He has since traded in his microphone and camera, for a badge and uniform, but is still playing an impactful role in the community.
Luton is now a sergeant in internal affairs at the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office.
"I'm a deputy inspector and I conduct internal investigations in regards to complaints both internally and externally," said Luton. "Which is definitely not something I thought I would be doing at this stage in my career."
While Luton spent most of his career as a patrol officer, he said he enjoys his current job because he gets see another side of the department.
"You get to see how the organization operates, really behind the scenes," said Luton.
Just like reporting, at a young age, his favorite part was seeing the other side of how a story comes together.
"To see another side of... really the world that you normally wouldn't be exposed to at that young of age, was quite interesting," said Luton.
As a kid, Luton was also called on to host a nationally-syndicated show called, "News For Kids," which aired on Saturday mornings.
When he went to college, Luton majored in meteorology, worked at the college radio station and even did stand-up comedy in his spare time.
During college, Luton then realized, he didn't want to move around to other television markets, which is what journalism often requires. That's when he switched majors to criminal justice to pursue a career in law enforcement.
