Cornwell makes plans as chief

Newly appointed interim Thermopolis Chief of Police Pat Cornwell started his career in Park County at the Cody jail in 1994, where he worked for five years. Later he was promoted to deputy and then moved to Powell, where he received additional training.

In Powell, where he worked for four years, Cornwell said, "We dealt with a lot. We had a lot of college kids living out of town. We did a lot of backing up the Powell Police Department, and they would back us up if we requested it."

Later Cornwell and his family moved to Gillette to be near family. However, Cornwell said he read a newspaper article after living there only a month that said a woman had been busted for selling $300,000 worth of meth in the high school. Cornwell said he thought, "And this is where I was bringing my kids to."

Cornwell then began to search for a new location to live and raise his family. Cornwell knew Al Nelson, who was a State Park Ranger in Thermopolis, so he inquired. Shortly after the query, Cornwell ended up getting an interview. Cornwell said, "A couple of hours after the interview, they called and said, 'Hey, we want to offer you the job you wanted.'"

Cornwell was an officer for about four years in Thermopolis. During Mark Nelson's tenure as Chief of Police, he appointed Cornwell as a sergeant. During that time, there were two sergeant positions. Cornwell remained in that position for about 14 years.

Cornwell's duties as sergeant were to oversee training, reports, classes, anything related to equipment, etc. Cornwell also managed scheduling days-on, sick days, vacation days. For reports, he submitted them to the county attorney's office, or to the municipal court.

Cornwell tried to dispatch, but he said, "It was a little bit too much because I'm not a dispatcher and I don't think that way. I think like a cop." Cornwell's interest lies in patrol.

When it comes to his experience in his job, Cornwell said, "You know, I joke a lot and in the past have joked a lot about methamphetamine and what it does to people. And I know it's not correct or politically correct, but I don't like the drug. I enjoy the people when they're not on drugs. I strive to help those people get what they need. And if that means I need to take them to jail so they can get to rehab, I'm going to get them there."

Cornwell added, "If they need to go to the hospital to come down off of whatever, they're on their way. If you take somebody off of heroin and put them in jail, they can die from it. Alcoholics are the same. I don't want them to die in jail. I'd rather have them go to the hospital."

Regarding the town of Thermopolis, "I just love the people here. We have a good community. The town has some flaws. We have drugs and burglaries once in a while." 

Cornwell said his vision as the new interim police chief is, "We just want to continue to keep going in the right direction. We want to be more out in the public. We want people to text us, call us. You have problems, let us know. We can come and try to take care of them and find a resolution without having to put anyone in jail."

Cornwell has talked to Sheriff Jerimie Kraushaar about doing more training with the sheriff's department. Cornwell said, "I want my guys to go out with his deputies once in a while within the first five miles of town. I want them to be able to go out with them and learn what's going on out there, just like when their deputies come into town and help us. In that, we're going to build a relationship where they can call our guys if they need help or we can call their guys if we need help."

Regarding retiring former Police Chief Julie Mathews Cornwell said, "I think everything right now is going to stay the same. I think Julie's done a good job. There might be a couple of small changes, but other than that, it's going to continue on and we're going to keep on going."