New face on the force

Upon the recommendation from Chief of Police Bill Bryant, retired Chicago police officer Dan Latham was hired for the open position on the Moorcroft police force by council Monday night. The formerly retired Chicago, IL police officer has lived on Pine Ridge with his wife for about a year, since moving north from New Mexico where he also worked as law enforcement.

The new officer must pass a two week class conducted in Douglas to become familiar with Wyoming statutes etc. before donning the uniform, but he is unconcerned as he had to do the same when returning to the job in New Mexico.

"One thing I heard about you," Councilman Dale Petersen said, admiring a comment Latham had previously made, "You talked about making connections with people, that's important."

Mayor Ben Glenn expressed his approval of the hire after the council voted unanimously, saying, "That's awesome."

Police Chief Bill Bryant has no start date yet for Latham and is waiting for an open class date, stating, "I'm still waiting for everything to come back."