Walter Hagan worked for the Carbon County Sheriff’s Department from 2005 to 2015 before he retired from law enforcement. Following the retirement of Sheriff Jerry Colson and the appointment of Archie Roybal to the position, Hagan felt he needed to run for sheriff in the next election.
“I thought about running before and that kind of put it over the barrel because I knew things weren’t going to change and we need change,” said Hagan. “The old style of ‘we’re just investigators and that’s all we do’ is out the window. There’s too many things that have to be done.”
Hagan stated that among the changes that needed to be made to the sheriff’s department included major upgrades in technology and equipment. He also stated that there needed to be more patrols done by deputies in the outlying municipalities.
“I want to give back to the community and the county,” Hagan said of running for office. “The (Rawlins) police department was very good to me and so was the sheriff’s department.”
Along with the 10 years of experience of Hagan acquired at the sheriff’s department, he also worked for 15 years in the Rawlins Police Department and two years in the town of Bairoil giving him a total of 27 years experience in law enforcement.
When it comes to the people of Carbon County, Hagan feels that one of the best things he can do is establish a investigative force within the sheriff’s department to handle large cases such as sexual assault. According to Hagan, the department worked on the basis of whoever got the case worked the case regardless of experience.
“You cannot give a guy who is fresh out of academy with very little experience a major case and I’ve seen where these cases, some of them did not work out,” said Hagan. “I’m going to make sure that we have three, possibly four, of the best investigators we have so when a major investigation comes up they take that over.”
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