Hall of Fame Inductee - Larry Majerus
2008
Serving with associations and committees provided the avenue to change and better the law enforcement environment in Wyoming, and Larry Majerus dedicated a great deal of time and effort working through those avenues. Larry served three terms on the State Law Enforcement Communications Commission (SALECS) between 1984 and 1996. He served as President of the Wyoming Chief’s Association from 1988-1989, and it was during this term that he worked closely with Past President Byron Rookstool to join the Chief’s and Sheriffs Associations into one association. With the support of John Bey, in his term as President of the Wyoming Peace Officers Association, the Sheriff’s and Chief’s became one association.
Chief Majerus served as president of the Wyoming Peace Officers’ Association in 2000, and it was during his service on the WPOA Executive Board that he worked diligently on a proposal to include all law enforcement in a State Peace Officers Retirement System. As a result of the persistent efforts of Larry Majerus and others, the bill creating the Wyoming State Peace Officers Retirement System was passed in the 2002 legislative session. Larry’s participation in the WAM (Wyoming Association of Municipalities) Public Safety Committee provided another avenue for addressing the needs of Wyoming law enforcement within our state government.
Chief Majerus served on the building committee for the Wyoming Peace Officers’ Memorial that was established at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy, and then served on the standing committee as representative for the Wyoming Association of Sheriff's and Chiefs’.
From 1996 through 2000, Larry served on the NCIC 2000 Western Working Group, on behalf of Wyoming law enforcement, to evaluate and report our needs to the FBI during development of NCIC 2000. Larry also served on the National Law Enforcement Corrections Technology Center Advisory Board, representing Wyoming law enforcement needs with the National Institute of Justice Science and Technology Center.
In his quest to raise the standards of law enforcement and develop community policing in Wyoming, Larry brought the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS) to Douglas to perform a “Community Policing Assessment” of the police department. Because he saw the value of the assessment process to law enforcement, he joined the WRICOPS Cadre, representing Wyoming law enforcement, to aid with the Community Policing assessment process in the western region. While working with WRICOPS, Chief Majerus joined a team that traveled to Russia in 2002, to share “Community Policing” with officers in a small island community there. Upon return, having observed officers working with no equipment, Larry and the team started a surplus equipment drive to gather from our great surplus of slightly outdated equipment to assist fellow officers abroad.
When Larry saw a need, he was challenged to address it. He began designing a booklet called “The Transition Document” in response to our difficulties with communicating about the intricacies of the Police Department with newly elected mayors and city council members. He wrote an article about the document that was published in the FBI National Academy Association Bulletin, and copies of the document were provided to agencies around the state and across the nation with the hope of helping them provide crucial information about their departments to newly elected officials.
Larry Majerus has tirelessly promoted the interests of law enforcement in Wyoming for the past 28 years. It would be hard to enumerate the value of Chief Majerus’ consistent involvement in promoting quality law enforcement in Wyoming over the years.