Sublette Sheriff’s Office undergoes organizational changes under new Sheriff
New staff line up, new uniforms, office hours in Marbleton
January 11, 2015
Below is news posted on Tuesday, January 6th on the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page about what changes newly-elected Sheriff Stephen Haskell is implementing to the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office.
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Jan 6, 2015
Sublette County Sheriff's Office
January 6 at 3:33am
As Sheriff Haskell takes office, initial changes may not be easily identifiable to the general public. His first action as he begins his watch is to overhaul the command leadership positions within the office.
Sheriff Haskell has revived a command structure that includes the position of Undersheriff. In Sheriff Haskell’s absence, the Undersheriff takes over command of the Sheriff’s Office. Tasked with ensuring that the day-to-day activities of the entire office are being performed to the Sheriff’s standard, the Undersheriff position carries with it a large amount of responsibility. To fill this position, Sheriff Haskell looked within the current staff and chose Deputy Mark Farrell.
Deputy Farrell, who has been promoted to the rank of Colonel, began his career in law enforcement with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 1989. After serving several years in that area, he moved to Seattle, WA, where he joined the University of Washington Police Department. Colonel Farrell served 13 years with this agency and took on the following collateral duties: Field Training Officer, Incident Command and Emergency Response Technician (US Department of Homeland Security), WMD/terrorism training through US Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, and certified tactical instructor through the National Tactical Officers Association. In 2006, Colonel Farrell moved to Pinedale and joined the Sheriff’s Office as a patrol officer. In addition to working patrol, he has been a training officer, and is currently a state-certified fire investigator. Colonel Farrell’s experience of over 20 years, and his commitment to upholding constitutional law, made him Sheriff’s Haskell’s first choice for his second in command.
In addition to the position of Undersheriff, Sheriff Haskell has promoted two additional deputies to head the Operations and Support divisions of the department.
The Operations Division, which includes the Patrol and Investigations sections, will be overseen by Captain Wes Johnston. A Wyoming native, Captain Johnston joined the United States Marine Corps after high school. After his honorable discharge in 1976, Captain Johnston earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Management, which led to a 28-year career with Wyoming Game and Fish. During his tenure as a Habitat Access Supervisor, Captain Johnston returned to military service, joining the Wyoming Army National Guard, where he served for 10 years. The day after he retired from G&F, he began his second career with the Sheriff’s Office as a Detention Deputy. He attended the Detention Officer Basic at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy at the young age of 50 years old and was later promoted to Detention Captain after one year. A few short years later, he joined the Patrol Division and has been a Patrol Officer since. In addition to his patrol duties, Captain Johnston has been an EMT, and worked his way through the ranks of the Pinedale Fire Department, eventually becoming Chief.
The Support Division, with includes the Detention Center, Court Security, and Dispatch, will be overseen by Captain Gabe Torres. Captain Torres began his law enforcement career in King City, CA. After 10 years with the department, he moved to Coalinga, CA, where he served another 14 years before retiring and moving to Pinedale, Wyoming. During his career, Captain Torres served as a patrol officer, Field Training Officer (FTO), gang expert, K9 officer and trainer, DARE officer, school resource officer, and more. While serving with Coalinga, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, where he held the positions of FTO supervisor, K9 supervisor, Custody and Control Instructor, certified instructor of both the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the California Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS). He is also a graduate of the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute. Upon his promoted to Lieutenant in Coalinga, Captain Torres was responsible for overseeing Patrol, Investigations, and Narcotics Enforcement, and graduated from the California POST Police Management Course. Captain Torres moved to Pinedale with the intention of enjoying retirement, but missed the family-like atmosphere of law enforcement. He joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2014 as a Detention Deputy. He also has a strong commitment to upholding constitutional law and implementing federal standards within the Detention Center.
One final move within the agency includes Deputy Katherine Peterson’s reassignment as Sheriff Haskell’s Administrative Assistant. Deputy Peterson has been promoted to the rank of Sergeant and will oversee the management of the office staff. Sergeant Peterson began her career with the Teton County Sheriff’s Office as a Detention Deputy almost 12 years ago, after serving in the United States Marine Corps. Two years later, she accepted a positon as a Patrol Officer with the Jackson Police Department. In 2010, Sergeant Peterson moved to Sublette County and has worked as a Patrol Officer since then. During her law enforcement career, Sergeant Peterson earned a degree in Criminal Justice, and is currently working on a degree in Homeland Security. She has held the positions of Detention and Patrol Officer, Dispatch, Field Training Officer, SWAT team sniper, and most recently, DARE Officer.
A more visible change over the next few months will be the implementation of new uniforms for all members of the department. In the past, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office has supplied different uniforms for the Patrol and Support Divisions. This practice leads to a lack of uniformity and teamwork within the office, and Sheriff Haskell would like to change that atmosphere. The new uniforms have been updated to tan shirts and black trousers, and citizens will notice updated arm patches and badges as well. Traditionally, sheriff’s offices around the nation have held to the colors of brown and tan for their uniforms. This practice has largely gone away, which means higher costs for the dated style currently used by our office. Sheriff Haskell’s change to the more universal color of black will cut costs in the future. He will also look to sell the useable brown uniforms to other agencies in order to recoup some of the initial cost of the changeover.
One other large change of note is Sheriff Haskell’s plan to hold office hours at the Marbleton Office every Wednesday, beginning next week. The office is located at 19 West 4th Street, and is open from 7:30am-5:30pm. At this time, no appointment is necessary to speak with Sheriff Haskell, though calling ahead is advised, as emergencies do come up. The office number is 307-276-5448.
Source post: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=816931031701303&id=166652106729202
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