There's A New Sheriff In Town
Author: Eliza McLaughlin - Staff Reporter
There's A New Sheriff In Town Eliza McLaughlin - Staff Reporter Broadwater County officials gathered together at the county courthouse on Dec. 29 to swear in those recently elected and release those previously holding the positions from their duties.
Among those sworn in was the newly-elected Broadwater County Sheriff Nick Rauser.
Rauser has had extensive law enforcement background and is well integrated into the local communities having been raised here.
Rauser got his first taste of law enforcement in Broadwater County in 2007 as a detention officer. After working in other counties for some time, Rauser returned to his stomping grounds in 2017.
Over the last five years, Rauser has climbed the ranks from sergeant of patrol to detective and most recently to captain.
Working in each of these positions allowed him the ability to “understand what each kind of area, what their roles are, what they need to do and how to do it.”
Despite having learned things that will prepare him for being sheriff firsthand, Rauser said it’s role models like the recently elected sheriff in Beaverhead County David Wendt that gave him some crucial skills.
“He taught me a lot of how to be a cop in a small county/small town. It is different than being like a police officer in a big city,” Rauser said, explaining that you have closer relationships with the people you serve in a rural area. And now he’s a role model for others.
It’s these relationships that Rauser feels most proud of in his law enforcement career.
“I’m able to serve and protect the people who have helped raise me,” he said.
In these first few months as sheriff, Rauser plans to focus his efforts on improving officer retention. Doing so, he said, will benefit other aspects of law enforcement as well.
“They get to know where they’re at, they get to know the people, and I just think it will make it better for everyone,” Rauser said.
Maintaining a full staff will also have an impact on the office’s ability to properly serve the north and south ends of the county and its ability to tackle problems such as drug trafficking, he explained.
“Drug work … is a very particular line of work within being a cop,” Rauser said. “There’s a lot of skill there, without being able to pass that knowledge down.”
With “a couple” Broadwater County officers already having these skills, Rauser plans to set them up in a position to be role models for others.
He has also set a goal to improve community engagement and plans to accomplish this by attending regular meetings and establishing “open lines of communication.”
Rauser expressed thanks to those who had his “six” during the election and promised to serve the county’s needs: “I’m going to do my absolute best job in trying to make sure that our office is serving [the residents of Broadwater County] to the best of [its] capabilities.”
