It took four tries and roughly five years for Alan Kent to join the Powell Police Department.

When Kent first applied to the Powell Police Department in 1989, he failed the written test. The second time, he didn’t quite pass the physical test. On the third try, Kent passed them both, but the city administrator — who hadn’t signed off on any new hires — shut down the process.

When the city eventually reopened the search with administrator approval, “I came in [to the department] and said, ‘Should I even bother, or is this really stupid for me to be a police officer?’” Kent recalled.

Then-Chief John Cox reassured Kent that he should test again and the fourth time proved to be a charm: Kent topped the broad field of candidates with his test scores and, at long last, started with the department in February 1995.

Decades later, Cox doesn’t remember many of the specifics around Kent’s hiring, but said the officer’s obvious desire to live and work in Powell — and tenacity in reapplying — worked in his favor.

“He’s a guy who I think over the long haul helped make the department a better place and the community a better place,” said Cox, who went on to lead multiple state departments and now lives in Cheyenne.

For his part, Kent went on to become one of the longest-serving officers in Powell’s history. He retired last month after nearly 25 years of service with the department.

Current Powell Police Chief Roy Eckerdt, who worked alongside Kent for more than 15 years, said that beyond serving as a police officer, Kent became a part of the community.

“There’s definitely something that’s lost and being lost as we move forward,” Eckerdt said, adding, “There’s an investment there that you don’t necessarily see these days — somebody that makes that 25-year commitment to their community.”

‘I enjoyed the work’

Kent served underneath five city administrators and three police chiefs. He spent the last four years as a lieutenant, helping cover some patrol shifts when needed, but generally handling administrative duties as the agency’s second-in-command. Before that, he worked as a sergeant, leading a squad of patrol officers.

“I enjoyed the work,” Kent said. “I enjoyed the challenges and I enjoyed my coworkers and I enjoyed helping the people of Powell.”

It was a job where he never knew what would happen on any given day.

Many of the bigger crimes committed in the Powell area wind up being handled by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. But when DCI’s own Powell office was set on fire in August 2005, Kent was put in charge of the investigation.

“I guess everyone gets one career case in their lifetime,” he said. “That was mine.”

Working with DCI agents and others, Kent helped build felony cases against two teenagers and the man who’d orchestrated the arson. Those three all ended up serving prison time or boot camp for their roles, with a couple others prosecuted for misdemeanor offenses for trying to help cover up the crime.

“It seemed like forever,” Kent said of the investigation, “but after a short amount of time, it got solved.”

That one case represented a short blip in his lengthy career in law enforcement. In a city the size of Powell, “you’re not just about arresting people and writing tickets,” Kent said.

“You do a lot of community service-type stuff — you know, you’re going on fire calls, you’re going on ambulance calls, you’re going on dog calls,” Kent laughed, adding, “In a smaller department, we don’t have necessarily … a whole lot of specialities, so you kind of do everything. And that was kind of neat.”

He also appreciated the people of Powell. While Kent has seen police officers bad-mouthed in other parts of the country, he experienced broad support among local residents.

“They wave at you when you’re driving around and if you run into them on the street they came up and say thank you,” he said. “So that’s always nice, too.”

A career of stories

Kent initially got into law enforcement while in California, serving a year-and-a-half with the City of Sonora Police Department in the early 1980s. He then took jobs in construction, logging and trucking. However, after he and his wife, Connie, followed his father to Powell, Kent got back into police work.

“I don’t regret it,” he said. “It was a good career choice and the police department’s a good place to work and the City of Powell’s a good outfit to work for.”

Heading into retirement, Kent said he’ll miss his coworkers the most; he’s served with some of them for decades — which means there are plenty of stories.

Not long before Kent was hired by the department, he had a literal run-in with Community Service Officer Anna Paris, who accidentally crashed into him with a city van.

Then-Chief Cox brought up the accident during Kent’s 1994 job interview, which prompted Kent to quip, “I think I got a little touch of whiplash, but I bet if I got a job, it would all go away.”

Kent still isn’t sure if the chief thought the joke was funny and Cox doesn’t recall his thoughts at the time. However, years removed from the incident, Paris and Kent laugh together about it now. At a small retirement party on Kent’s last day, Paris and other colleagues wished him well — and said they would miss him, too.

Among the things they’ll miss is his sense of humor and easy-going nature. Cox remembers wondering if Kent was too laid-back for a career as a police officer, but “obviously, his career proved otherwise,” he said.

“These guys who’ve worked for all these years in Powell ... have seen a lot of stuff, and to be able to not let go of that [sense of humor] … yet be serious about the job, I think that’s got to be one of the things that, as people look back on his [Kent’s] career there, will just appreciate,” Cox said, adding, “Isn’t that the kind of demeanor you want coming into your crisis?”

Kent joined the Powell Police Department when he was 37, which made him one of the older officers on the force. He wound up serving with the department longer than some of the current officers have been alive.

“That’s when you’re starting to feel old,” Kent chuckled.

Even in retirement, Chief Eckerdt plans to continue drawing on Kent’s decades of knowledge and experience in a more limited capacity, as Kent has agreed to serve as a reserve officer.

However, Kent generally expects to take some more trips to Yellowstone National Park and to spend more time with his grandkids. His wife, Connie, is ready for the change.

“She’s looking forward to it,” Kent said, “and so am I.”

Editor's note: This version clarifies that Kent was one of the longest-serving officers.