Former SRO Steve Coleman retires from service

A longtime local police officer, sheriff’s deputy and school resource officer is calling it a career.

Steve Coleman, who has served the citizens of Big Horn County for 29 years, recently worked his last shift with the Lovell Police Department. He also served many years with the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office and as a school resource officer in both Big Horn County School District No. 1 and District No. 2.

Coleman was born in the Texas panhandle and grew up in Killeen, Texas, where his father was a command sergeant major at Fort Hood. After his graduation from high school in 1982, he attended the University of Texas at El Paso for two years, then enlisted in the U.S. Army.

His Army career took him to Fort Knox for basic and advanced individual training (AIT), followed by stints in Germany, Airborne School at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with the 101^st Airborne Division and then to Fort Bliss in El Paso.

He moved into law enforcement in Chattanooga, Tennessee, working in the prison system, then was called back to active duty for two years at Fort Hood in Texas during Operation Desert Storm, though he was never deployed overseas.

After a few more years in Chattanooga, he moved to Milford, Utah, working in upper management for Circle 4 Farms, and started coaching football, basketball and baseball at the high school level. 

And then Wyoming came calling. Coleman took a deputy position with the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office in 2007 and then became the inaugural school resource officer for School District No. 1 in November of 2009, working at the Burlington School, Rocky Mountain High School in Byron, Rocky Mountain Middle School in Deaver and Rocky Mountain Elementary School in Cowley.

In short, he did a lot of traveling.

He also continued his coaching career, working as an assistant coach for Coach Janis Beal at Northwest College for eight years and also coaching at Rocky Mountain.

After four years as the SRO in District One, the Sheriff’s Office took over SRO duties in Lovell, and Coleman moved his position to Lovell, first covering all three schools, then settling in at the high school.

After many years as the Lovell SRO, Coleman took a job with the Manderson Police Department for a year, then was hired by the Lovell Police Department as the sergeant in August of 2024.

Plans

Asked about his plans in retirement, Coleman noted, “I’m going to see what God has in store for me, but right now I’m just kind of doing some part-time work at the New Life Church in Powell. And then I see lots of golf in my future.”

Looking back on his career, Coleman reflected on how he truly enjoyed working with kids as the SRO and as a coach.

“I connect well with them, and for the most part, I get along well with them, and (I enjoyed) just being able to be there for them,” he said. “When you’re in the school and they start to trust you, you sometimes wear a counselor hat, or sometimes when a teacher was late or missing, you sit in the classroom. I just took on many roles.”

Coleman said he was proud to receive the Wyoming School Resource Officer of the Year award in 2018 while working for Lovell High School.

Asked what he enjoyed the most about working in law enforcement and his philosophy and approach as an officer, Coleman quickly replied, “Just being able to help people was the reason I went into it. I wanted show respect (for people) and go into it lighthearted, because, if I make a traffic stop, you’re already having a bad day. There’s no reason to make it worse, so if you could leave that interaction with a smile or a laugh or just keep it really lighthearted, most times it worked out.

“Sometimes you’re the bad guy; no matter what, people would get mad at you. And what I would like to say is, ‘Ma’am or sir, we’re not here because of me. We’re here because you were doing 50 in a 30,’ but I never said that. Yeah, you just want to take it lighthearted and, of course, be aware of your surroundings and safety. But yeah, try to be as lighthearted and compassionate as possible.”

Coleman is married to wife Shantel, also a Lovell police officer, and he has four children: Brianne Hite of Gillette, Aspyn Salutregui of Caldwell, Idaho, Ciera Coleman of Corona, New Mexico, and Tanner Coleman of Caldwell. He also has nine grandchildren.

Summing up, Coleman noted, “It was just my pleasure and my honor to be able to serve the community.”