Cassidee joined the Aurora Police Department in 2003. Her tenure with Aurora PD has been mutli-faceted. She spent time as a Field Training Officer, was on the Direct Action Response Team (DART), a specialized tactical unit that provides a proactive response to reducing street crime that impacts the quality of life within the community. She was promoted to Detective, and in 2010, she was promoted to sergeant. In 2011, she was selected to serve as the agency’s Public Information Officer.

Cassidee led the Media Relations Unit through the July 20, 2012 shooting at the Century 16 movie theater. As a means of supporting victims and families during this mass tragedy, Cassidee created a program pairing the families of the victims with a professional public information officer. This program empowered grieving families to navigate the media as they deemed appropriate amidst such a tragic time.

In 2014, Cassidee was assigned to supervise one of Aurora’s district DART teams, which later became the agency’s full time SWAT team. In 2017, she went to the Major Investigations Bureau as the Internet Crimes Against Children Sergeant and later the Crimes Against Children Unit. In December of 2018, Cassidee was promoted to lieutenant and was assigned as a Patrol Watch Commander. In 2020, she became a District Sector Lieutenant where she oversaw a community policing unit and detective bureau. Lieutenant Carlson was selected as Deputy Commander of the Internal Affairs Bureau in 2020.In 2021, she was promoted to Captain and then was later appointed as a District Commander, overseeing approximately 165 employees.

Cassidee has attended training in media relations, leadership, victim assistance, police tactics, homeland security, peer support, and is a graduate of a nine-month Leadership Aurora Development Program. She completed her Bachelor’s of Criminal Justice in 2002 from the University of Central Missouri and obtained her Masters of Nonprofit Management at Regis University in Denver, CO in 2015. Cassidee served on the Board of Director’s for Leadership Aurora for 6 years. She has served as the Logistics Chief during several deployments with the Colorado Fallen Hero Foundation which supports agencies during line of duty deaths. Given Cassidee’s passion for supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities through inclusion and equity, she is very active with Special Olympics Colorado. She serves on the Executive Council for the Law Enforcement Torch Run and volunteers as a Special Olympics Coach.