EVANSTON — During his first year as county sheriff, Andy Kopp has implemented many changes to the Uinta County Sheriff’s Office and recently said he is pleased with the results. He and Undersheriff Trevor Rasmussen have worked throughout the year to build relationships with other county and city entities and to improve the working conditions of the officers in the department.

The Herald recently met with Sheriff Kopp, Undersheriff Rasmussen, Lt. Brenden Morrow and Capt. Kirby Lamb to discuss the changes.

“The first thing we did was purchase new chairs for the deputies working in dispatch,” Kopp said. “The old chairs were in sorry condition and, since they have to sit in those chairs for eight hours, they needed comfortable chairs. We also switched to new uniforms that are consistent for all employees and changed the decals on the vehicles.”

Kopp showed the flexible American flag badge that is now stitched on the arm of every deputy’s uniform shirt and a pink Uinta County flexible badge the deputies will wear during the month of October to recognize breast cancer awareness month.

“Another thing I did after taking office was reallocate and give raises in order to close the disparity in wages among employees,” Kopp said.

Kopp said he and Rasmussen approached the county commission to request approval to auction off used equipment and a horse trailer to purchase Molli vests for all deputies, including dispatchers and officers at the detention center. The old vests were no longer safe ballistically, Kopp said.

The Molli vest is a safety vest that is bullet resistant and has a stab plate to protect the officer from a knife attack. The vest is worn outside the shirt so it can be taken off easily when necessary.

“We received $12,000 for the horse trailer and that helped to pay for the new vests,” Kopp said. “We also got new side arms for the patrol officers. The ones they had were outdated, and the ammo for the new guns is less expensive.”

A change at the Uinta County Detention Center included securing a new phone provider for the inmates that comes with a tablet and has an educational component on it. When an inmate completes a basic education course or an addiction recovery course, they receive a printed certificate and a link to purchase movies to watch on the tablet.

The department has also upgraded the tablets installed in patrol vehicles so the deputy is in direct messaging contact with the dispatcher.

Sheriff Kopp said he restructured the command staff and he meets informally with each of them daily rather than in a structured meeting. His main objective, he said, is to always maintain an open-door policy so officers feel comfortable stopping in to discuss issues.

He requires all sergeants to attend Rocky Mountain Command College, which is sponsored by the FBI. They also attend a Crisis Intervention Training (CIT). Five attended a recent training held in Kemmerer. There are a total of eight sergeants in the department — four in patrol, one in investigations and three in the detention center.

Detention supervisor Lt. Morrow said, “I think Andy’s system is very effective. I collaborate with supervisors of the other county jails to get ideas and information. I meet with my sergeants monthly to exchange ideas and talk about any problems and then I meet with the entire staff on a quarterly basis. I also am available to meet informally daily all the time.”

Debby Whitaker is the supervisor of dispatch and Morrow said the dispatch deputies are happy, adding that even when a position in patrol opens up, they don’t want to leave dispatch.

Morrow said the housing of mentally ill inmates in the jail is an ongoing problem. Kopp said they have been meeting with the administration at the Wyoming State Hospital to come up with solutions to the situation. They also received some of the hospital’s equipment it was no longer using.

Capt. Lamb said improving relationships with surrounding county sheriff’s offices has been a goal of Kopp’s administration. They have ongoing meetings with offices in Summit, Wasatch, Morgan, Heber City and Park City in Utah; along with Sweetwater and Lincoln counties here in Wyoming.

“It is important to build relationships with other agencies,” Rasmussen said. “We often work cases together and share caseloads.”

Kopp said the department is proud of how they have built a good relationship with the citizens of the county. They recently participated in an event at Urie Elementary School; they attend sporting events; and they participate in parades and in many other community events.

The call volume has risen by 130 calls in 2023, and Rasmussen said many of those calls have been “kudos” from citizens who like seeing the deputies out and about.

Future plans for the department are to have a Range Deputy program started by spring in order to protect and help ranchers and those in rural areas. The fence around the facility is finished, which was a project of the previous administration paid for by a grant.

“We have a full staff in detention and patrol,” Kopp said. “We have a victim’s advocate, an office manager, an officer over special operations, search and rescue and the mounted horse patrol. The department has done a good job of recruiting and retention in dispatch so we are only down one dispatcher. We are working … on a revised dispatch schedule,” Kopp said. “We are moving forward.”