The Albany County Sheriff's Office is a local police agency in Albany County, Wyoming, United States. It consists of 46 sworn law enforcement officers and 8 civilian support personnel.[1] As of 2022[update] the sheriff is Aaron Appelhans, the first African-American to serve as sheriff in Wyoming.[2]
In 2021, the New York Times described the department as "troubled" and plagued by "allegations of nepotism, selective enforcement and excessive force".[2]
In 2018, an unarmed man, Robbie Ramirez, was shot and killed by deputy Derek Colling. This was the third time in Colling's career he had shot and killed someone.[3] The George Floyd protests in Laramie in partnership with a grassroots organization Albany County for Proper Policing (ACOPP), called attention to Collin's 2018 killing of Ramirez.[4] Colling resigned in 2021.[3] Ultimately, Ramirez's family successfully sued Colling for wrongful death.[5] Sheriff Dave O’Malley resigned in 2020 amid a lawsuit over the shooting.[2]
After O'Malley's resignation, Appelhans was appointed his replacement.[2][6] State Representative Cyrus Western replied to a post on Twitter about Appelhans's appointment with an animated GIF from the film Blazing Saddles;[7] after receiving criticism for the tweet, Western deleted the tweet, issued a public apology, and called Appelhans to apologize.[8] Appelhans spoke of his goal of diversifying the department, of which he was the only Black officer at the time.[2] In 2021, Appelhans fired a deputy who was accused of harassing a Black subordinate until the subordinate quit.[9][10]