Movie released this weekend based on experiences of Colorado police officer

As “End of Watch,” starring Jake Gyllenhall and Michael Peña opens in theaters this weekend, one Summit County Sheriff’s Deputy knows the story all too well.

“It’s experiences that happened to me,” said Capt. FitzSimons. “It’s all real; they’re all real things that happened.”

Before moving to Colorado, Capt. Jamie FitzSimons served at the Los Angeles Police Department for 15 years, getting to see first-hand the brutality and senseless violence caused by street gangs and drug cartels. But after too many close calls, the Captain decided it was time for a change.

“Got tired of getting shot at. You start wondering ‘is it all worth it?’” said Capt. FitzSimons, who moved to Colorado eight years ago. “Then you come to a place like Breckenridge and you say ‘Wow – I’d like to live here!’”

Capt. FitzSimons not only got to play a small role in the film, but he also helped train the actors – making sure they played their roles as realistically as possible.

Though the film is action-packed, the captain says he doesn’t want audiences to miss the deeper message, about who the men and women that police our streets really are.

“I think what this does is let people see that we’re human beings,” said Capt. FitzSimons. “We’re not robots – you know, we’re not bad guys.”