Knighton recognized for service

Former State Trooper Sue Knighton has been recognized by her previous supervisor Lieutenant Clay Barker of Cheyenne by giving her a plaque that contains her badge, medals, and pins for her years of service in both the military and the Wyoming Highway Patrol. 

Knighton grew up in Thermopolis and attended Ralph Witters Elementary School and the Middle School. After that, she moved to Washington State and graduated from high school in 1992. Next, she enlisted in the Army to be in the Military Police Corps for a total of five years. This time included her service at Fort Shafter in Hawaii and Fort Lewis in Washington State. Knighton said, "It was a good experience."

The most influential person who inspired Knighton to serve in the military and law enforcement was her father Jerry Garland. Garland was previously in the Army's 82nd Airborne. Knighton said, "I looked up to him growing up, for sure. His military service made me look up to him for sure. But then, just that he was a hard worker. He always had a job. He didn't live off the system. He instilled in me that work was important."

After her time in the military, she moved back home to Wyoming and got a job at the Wyoming Boys School in Worland. This was a temporary job and Knighton wanted to work in law enforcement. Knighton applied for Wyoming Highway Patrol and was hired in 1999 where she continued in that service until October 2022, almost 24 years. During that time, she transferred to Riverton, to Worland, to Torrington, and then to Cheyenne.

Knighton was always a State Trooper and never applied for sergeant or lieutenant. However, her last duty station was for the Governor's Office working as executive protection before retirement, which is considered a promotion. 

Knighton said that the Wyoming Highway Patrol is "an outstanding agency as far as law enforcement... one of the best in the state, in my opinion." She also said her job can be "difficult," because of the number of people she comes into contact with on a daily basis. "It's a good job. It can be stressful, just like any other law enforcement job."

Knighton added, "I enjoyed doing the crash investigations. I was able to transfer and work throughout the state without having to change departments. City guys are stuck in one city and I could stay with the same organization and work."

When it comes to the plaque Lieutenant Barker gave her, Knighton said, "I feel pride. With the military and a patrol together, it's almost 30 years of service to the public. It's been a long time. It doesn't seem like it. I'm almost 50 years old. But it's almost 30 years of public service to the community and to the country."

Knighton added more about her motivation to serve and said, "Just knowing that I can help people out there in many different ways. And as a woman, I'm kind of a figure that young girls can look up to. As a woman in this type of position in the military and in law enforcement, we can, as women, do these kinds of jobs and be successful at it. That warms my heart. Yeah. I was the eighth woman on the Highway Patrol to ever be hired when I got hired in '99. So I wish more women would get into law enforcement and even the military. I don't know the stats on the military with women in the military, but they're pretty low in the Highway Patrol. There are not a whole lot of women right now. And I wish more women would do this line of work, for sure."