Week 1 - Orientation - JCSO Citizen's Academy

Captain Rick Simpson started off by saying the first night of class would be the most exciting (ok, not really). The first night was about housekeeping items, structure/employment overview and introduction to records, fleet & property units.

We were issued citizens academy shirts to be worn each week and had our mug shots taken for id that has to be worn each week. Fully expect that to be the ONLY time I get my mug shot taken! So it wasn't really a mug shot, but you get my point...

Sheriff Frank Denning spoke for a few minutes about the Sheriff's Office, the core values - Duty-Honor-Service - and how he expects the best out of deputies and staff because the community is "boss" and we deserve their best. He was very passionate as he spoke. He introduced Undersheriff Kevin Cavanaugh who re-emphasized those same points.

Our class is the 30th class to attend the citizen's academy. The first class was in 2001, initiated by Sheriff Foster. Nearly 600 people have attended the citizens academy. Captain Simpson emphasized that they are proud of the community involvement and hope participants will continue on to volunteer once the academy is complete. (Uh oh... Guess I didn't know what I was getting myself in to!  Could be interesting!)

Lieutenant Doug Wade discussed department structure, chain of command, recruitment, hiring process, testing, benefits, etc for deputies. There are nearly 600 employees in the Sheriffs Office involved in Operations, Detention, Support Services and Communications/Judicial. Detention can hold up to 814 people at New Century and Olathe will be able to hold 300 once renovation is complete. All deputies start in detention before moving to different departments. Many stay in detention. JCSO is very proud of their jail and emphasize providing a clean facility, compassion, care and respect for those unfortunate to be placed in their care.

Next up was a roundtable discussion in which participants were able to ask questions to 4 deputies ranging from 1 - 20+ years of experience among the different departments. The key point made by deputies that work in detention is that you have to be able to communicate effectively with inmates. Be compassionate but alert. Safety of inmate is important but so is safety of personnel.

Most gratifying moments mentioned by deputies were: keeping inmates safe while in custody, being able to help someone/reassuring them in their time of need, meeting someone after their incident and learning how they have positively changed their life.

Brian Dowling - Support Services Manager - discussed Records, Fleet & Property. JCSO will be switching to the Tahoe 4x2 now that the Crown Vic is no longer being made. JCSO obtains nearly 1300 pieces of evidence every month.

Sheila Wacker - Records Supervisor - discussed records. JCSO is responsible for maintaining Sex, Drug & Violent Offender registration for Johnson County. Nearly 250/month. Non-compliance of offenders to register is less than 1%. That's something to be proud of. Nice job JCSO!

Tina Merryfield - Senior Records Specialist - discussed the Master Name Index. Many people have aliases making it harder to keep track of offenders particularly those who may be in the US illegally. (I have an alias and if you think about it, many of you reading this do too!) The MNU is helpful to the Immigration Customs Enforcement unit.

The goals for the academy include: to educate the community on the role of the Johnson County Sheriff's Office; to provide "hands on" realistic instruction relevant to Sheriff's services; to continue enhancement of positive relationships between community and JCSO; to provide opportunity for community to get to know the men & women serving in the Sheriff's Office.

Now that the housekeeping items are complete, time for the "hands on" experience. Next week is intro to and tour of the jail (Adult Detention Center).