MOFFAT — Moffat’s Hunter Horsley is ecstatic about his recent move to Moffat. Horsley is originally from Virginia, but moved to Moffat after he was given the opportunity to head up the development of a police department in Moffat.
“From what I understand it’s been years since the Town of Moffat has had a police department, and I am really looking forward to being a part of this, and helping residents feel safer in their town. This is a great opportunity and I think this is going to help the town and the surrounding area a lot,” he said.
Horsley has a strong service background. Horsley was in the military for 13 years. During that time, he was a drill instructor and an aviation mechanic.
“Ater the military, I moved home to Lynchburg, Va., where I became a police officer. I had a couple of different jobs in there, but for the most part I worked as a police officer. In 2018, I moved to Williamsburg, Va., where I worked for 3 or 4 years, getting redirected in a career, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I took a trip around the country, too, and figured I got my school out of the way. I then thought about it a lot and thought I would just go back to Virginia and get into farming,” he said.
Horsley said he remembers taking a trip to Utah and decided to visit Moffat, to check out the area, since they had heard a lot about Moffat.
“The area 420 is what we had heard about for farming, and we went into Moffat, checked out the area, and absolutely fell in love with the place. Area 420 is a big part of the economy there, but it’s such a small part of the actual beauty of the place. The town itself immediately won us over and we stayed there. We took our camper out to High Desert Ranch and stayed a few months just to kind of see what was going on and see where we might fit in here, or if we fit in here. This position became available. We started hearing about a lot of different crimes happening, there were people trying to break into some properties and damage some of the fences around them,” he said.
Horsley said he heard from community members that the crime was because there was such little law enforcement there.
“There is a lot of money over there. The citizens are supportive of area 420, they are just worried about the crime that comes with some of that. We talked and figured out that the town had the ability to create a police department. Long story short, it just seemed like everything fell into place. They have the need for a police department, and I offered to help, and things are going to work out for the best for the town and all the citizens involved. I am a laid-back kind of guy, it’s a laid-back town, they aren’t looking for a robo cop just someone with good values to help,” he said.
Horsley said that since he came in from Virginia, he would have to get certified through Colorado, because the licensing is different. Horsely also said that right now the police department is in town hall, but that would probably change when the right building was found and put together for the department.
“It’s all coming in steps, but we are on the right track. We all want to make Moffat a safe place to live. In speaking with the mayor and the different folks in town, we have all kind of come up with a plan, and everyone likes it. I don’t know 100 percent what it is going to look like in the future, but we want to meet the needs of the residents and help everyone feel safer and more secure, that is our ultimate goal. I am proud to be a part of it all too,” he said.
