EWC Foundation announces the Distinguished Alumni Award for 2015 to Billy Janes

The Eastern Wyoming College Foundation and Eastern Wyoming College are proud to honor Billy Janes as the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni award for 2015.  He will be the 25th recipient of this award, which was first awarded in 1991.

Janes was born in Rocky Ford, Colorado, and moved at the age of six with his family to Torrington where his father was employed with the Holly Sugar Corporation.   He graduated from Eastern Wyoming College in 1974 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in law enforcement.

He was employed as a peace officer at the time of his graduation, and formally began with the Torrington police department in 1973.  With his retirement from the force in early 2015 his service will have included thirty annual appointments as Chief of Police.   His career in law enforcement in Torrington includes promotion to Sergeant in 1978, promotion to Detective Lieutenant in 1981, and appointment as acting police chief then Chief of Police in 1986.  At his retirement in 2015, Mr. Janes is the longest serving police chief in the state of Wyoming.

His career included extensive training in law enforcement and administrative leadership in the field of criminal justice.  He is a graduate of the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy, the FBI National Academy and Command Academy, and has completed over 4,000 continuing education hours in peace officer standards.  He is additionally a certified instructor in a variety of law enforcement, business and community policing subject areas.

Mr. Janes has served as an adjunct instructor for both the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy and Eastern Wyoming College, as well as serving appointments with Peace Officers Standards and Training, and the Western Regional Institute in Community Oriented Policing (including mentoring programs in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington and South Dakota.)   He is also a nationally-qualified instructor for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, which provides mentoring to law enforcement officers in 50 states, and serves as a D.A.R.E officer providing drug prevention education to K-12 students throughout Goshen County.

He has served a gubernatorial appointment to the Wyoming Public Safety Communications Commission as well as to the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy Board.  He has been president of the Wyoming Sheriffs and Chiefs Association and served on the Wyoming Association of Municipalities Public Safety Committee.  He additionally received the Wyoming D.A.R.E Lifetime Achievement and Administrator of the Year Award.
In his non-law enforcement community activities, Mr. Janes is active in Rotary International, serving as the Torrington club president and working with several international student exchange and facility construction projects.  He is a Paul Harris Fellow with Rotary International. He has been an active high school football referee for many years, and is past president of the Eastern Wyoming Official’s Association.  He additionally received the Wyoming High School Activities Association Thirty Year award for service.

Mr. Janes will be honored with this award at the May 8, 2015 commencement ceremonies held on the EWC campus.

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