License plates on vehicles all across Wyoming feature the silhouette of a rodeo rider atop a bucking bronc, holding aloft a cowboy hat. The iconic image is Wyoming’s official logo, a state-owned, registered trademark that serves as a ubiquitous symbol of the Cowboy State’s cultural identity.<\/p>\n
But sheriff’s deputies riding in cruisers\u2014or on horseback\u2014in Sublette County, about 80 miles south of Grand Teton National Park, won’t be sporting cowboy hats any longer under. A new dress code in the department prompted one longtime local lawman to retire early, saying he’d rather quit than give up his beloved hat and boots.<\/p>\n
Newly elected Sheriff Stephen Haskell is surprised at the dust-up over his policy change, which is aimed at having all deputies wear the same uniform, rather than a combination of varying outfits that he said left them looking like the “Skittles patrol,” sporting a rainbow of colors.<\/p>\n
“All law enforcement is supposed to be professional and look the same, with some uniformity,” said Haskell, who employs 68 deputies across a sprawling, rural county that covers nearly 5,000 square miles, but is home to only 10,000 residents.<\/p>\n
With detention officers wearing one uniform and patrol deputies wearing another, Haskell said some people were confused about who was a member of the Sheriff’s Office. Requiring ball caps and rubber-soled boots while banning cowboy hats and cowboy boots was also a move aimed at officer safety, he said.<\/p>\n
But 28-year department veteran Gene Bryson was too fond of his cowboy hat, leather vest and cowboy boots to make the change to the new uniforms, and chose retirement instead of a makeover.<\/p>\n
“When you take away my individuality, I don’t want to stay,” said Bryson, 70, who grew up on a ranch in Montana and has spent a lifetime in law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Bryson said one other Sublette County deputy had worn a cowboy hat, but retired last month. So Bryson told the new sheriff that he didn’t want to order new uniforms, “and if that’s what he wanted, I was gone.”<\/p>\n
Haskell was surprised Monday to be fielding media inquiries about Bryson’s departure, and said the change was well-received within the department and in the community.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want deputies slipping and sliding and falling on their rear-ends” while wearing slick-soled cowboy boots in snow and ice, said Haskell, 53, a longtime resident of Wyoming and Utah who rode in the semi-pro rodeo circuit for seven years, and retired from the U.S. Marines after a 25-year career that included combat in Somalia.<\/p>\n
Haskell said he often wears Western gear while off duty, including a cowboy hat and boots. But he expressed measured bemusement at media interest in Bryson’s high-profile exit.<\/p>\n
“It’s crazy,” he said, adding that no other deputy had refused to wear the new uniforms. “I’m just trying to bring a level of professionalism to the department.”<\/p>\n
Bryson said he switched from patrol duty to working as courthouse security last year, and had already planned to retire later this year anyway.<\/p>\n
The move will allow him more time to focus on a gun store he owns in Marbleton, Wyo., Bryson said.<\/p>\n