The Wire Clay County Sheriff's Office

May 2024

New site selected for Law Enforcement Resource Center

A new site for the long-awaited Law Enforcement Resource Center has been selected, and this time, the Sheriff’s Office is notifying neighbors about the project much earlier in the process.

Sheriff Will Akin and County leaders have agreed to construct the CCSO training facility on five acres of County-owned land next to the Highway Department on NE 116th Street in rural Kearney, Mo. It will include an indoor-only, ten-lane shooting range, as well as a classroom for up to 55 people, multipurpose space that can be used for defensive tactics or virtual training, offices and more. The range will be about 5,000 square feet, and the rest of the building will be 8,000 square feet. The facility also will have a parking lot with 25 spots.

Training Division Captain Bryan Sapp said the range will be top-of-the line, with the best HVAC and moving target systems available. He thinks the LERC will even serve as a recruitment tool.

The project is funded by federal COVID relief money. The budget started at $6.9 million, but $1 million of that had to be used to fix the damage caused by the original contractors on the jail control systems replacement project. (The County is considering legal action to recoup those costs, but that will take time.) Another $100,000 already was spent on site assessment and architectural plans for the first proposed location. That leaves about $5.8 million for the LERC now.

The project was originally planned as an outdoor range on Stillhouse Road near Missouri City on the site of a former landfill.

“We thought Stillhouse was a good location, until we allowed the county to fulfill the obligations of its ordinance to notify nearby property owners,” Sheriff Akin said.

County ordinance required only those residing within 1,000 feet of the property be notified about the pending construction, which ended up being about 10 people. Word spread among farther-flung neighbors, however, who vehemently opposed a shooting range nearby. Nearly 100 people showed up to the County Planning and Zoning meeting in July 2023 to oppose the project. Most public commenters said they supported the Sheriff’s Office but didn’t want the shooting range by their property.

“I said this isn’t a hill I’m going to die on,” Sheriff Akin said. “I still think it would have been the most ideal location for it, but the damage was done.”

This time, the Sheriff’s Office was very upfront. Training Division staff went door-to-door in April to nearly 100 homes in the area of the new site – including those much farther than 1,000 feet - to notify residents of the project and tell them about a community meeting taking place April 18.

About 20 people attended the meeting, where they saw floor plans recently drawn up by Piper Wind Architects. Sheriff Akin said several of the residents who came with concerns had them alleviated by seeing the plans and learning about how the design would be aesthetically pleasing to fit into the neighborhood.

After the Stillhouse plan was shot down, Sheriff Akin, Captain Sapp and County staff reviewed nearly half-a-dozen other potential sites for the LERC. Some were in warehouses that would have to be outfitted. Others would be on leased property, something everyone involved wanted to avoid. They finally settled on the Highway Department property, where, ironically, the Sheriff’s Office used to have an outdoor shooting range prior to the construction of the Holmes Creek subdivision in 2000.

The first phase of the LERC was supposed to be the outdoor range, followed later by the training building. Sheriff Akin said public feedback changed that order, as well as making the range indoors.

“We still need an outdoor range,” Captain Sapp said.

CCSO currently must rent range time at other area outdoor ranges, such as those used by the North Kansas City or Sugar Creek Police departments. Sometimes deputies must go all the way to St. Joseph or Clinton County for range time. While the indoor range will certainly be helpful, Captain Sapp said it’s no replacement for outside.

“You need to be able to practice distance, maneuvering, tactical movements,” he said. “It sounds bad, but we have to train people to get in gunfights. You actually have to get out and mimic what you may engage in.”

For now, the outdoor range is on the back burner.

The County is scheduled to issue a request for bids for construction companies this fall. Captain Sapp said he hopes ground-breaking can take place in early 2025.

Sabbatical program aims to improve work/life balance

A new sabbatical program will allow tenured employees time off to disconnect, lower stress and hopefully return to work with renewed vigor.

“The goal is to remind people this shouldn’t be the place that defines who they are in life,” Sheriff Will Akin said.

The Sabbatical Overview document sent to employees on April 19 states, “The program is intended to facilitate a lengthy and satisfying career.” It also says the program is designed to “bolster retention via prevention and resiliency.”

Every five years of consecutive employment with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office will grant employees – sworn or nonsworn – eligibility for a 21-day (three-week) paid sabbatical. The sabbatical must be used within 36 months of eligibility. Sheriff Akin said there is no limit on how many employees can be on sabbatical at the same time, as long as operations are not negatively impacted. Participation in this program is voluntary and must be applied for. Human Resources also emailed the application to all employees on April 19.

The development of the program has been in the works for more than two years. It started with an article Captain Paul Norris saw on the Police One website about a first-of-its-kind sabbatical program at the Paynesville, Minn., Police Department. He asked Deputy Dakota Williams – who at the time was assigned to the CIT Squad and is currently one of CCSO’s Peer Support Team leaders – if he could look into it further. Deputy Williams did extensive research and drafted a proposal to present to Sheriff Akin.

Sheriff Akin said he initially rejected the idea, but upon further reflection, realized he needed to challenge his way of thinking about law enforcement.

The program went through many iterations as Sheriff Akin and Deputy Williams gathered feedback from employees. They were set to implement a trial program when the prolonged jail systems control project got underway, creating a greater demand on staffing. The sabbatical idea got shelved until that project was completed.

Deputy Williams said the final design of the sabbatical program turned out better than he had hoped for.

One of the original components was going to be a mandatory week of community service.

“I want our employees to be on the other side,” Sheriff Akin said. “We’re so jaded when it comes even to people trying to help.”

But due to pushback, that part of the program is now optional. Employees can, however, earn up to five SAL days for their participation in community service during their sabbatical.

The program cuts off employees’ access to their email, work phones and radios for the duration of the sabbatical. Sworn employees also cannot work off-duty during that time, which Sheriff Akin acknowledged is probably a deal-breaker for those who rely on the income of off-duty jobs.

“We want to really, truly get people who just get so involved in law enforcement, they know nothing else,” Deputy Williams said. “… Sometimes you don’t know how far you’re in, and you need to take a step back. Even I’m apprehensive about it. I don’t like missing work unnecessarily.”

Sheriff Akin said he hopes employees on sabbatical will spend more time with family and make their mental and physical health a priority. Employees going on sabbatical must meet with a therapist before and after. While the conversations will be confidential, the sessions will not only help employees prepare for a life outside of law enforcement but also see if the sabbatical program is being effective at reducing stress. When employees return from sabbatical, they also will meet with Sheriff Akin to discuss their experience.

Deputy Williams said that based on his research, there are few other sabbatical programs like it in the nation. The Smithville Police Department recently adopted a similar program. Sheriff Akin said if it proves to be successful, he hopes to spread information about it to law enforcement nationwide.

Applications are already coming in, Sheriff Akin said.

Deputy Williams said he hopes that employees return from sabbatical with a more defined line between their professional and personal lives.

“I hope they’re able to really have a work/life balance: healthy relationships with family and significant others, and really be passionate about their job,” he said.

Handgun change will accommodate red dot optics

The Sheriff’s Office is working toward transitioning all handguns to a different model that will accommodate red dot optics.

“It’s a popular standard now,” Training Division Captain Bryan Sapp said. “It allows you to be more target-focused on the suspect. You can use the red dot with both eyes open.”

With an iron sight, Captain Sapp said deputies are often forced to focus on three different distances. Red dot optics also are easier for those with dominant eye issues. Deputies have been asking Captain Sapp about red dot technology for years, he said. Several area police departments, including Kansas City, Missouri, and Independence, have made the switch.

“The Sheriff is very progressive and embraces change,” Captain Sapp said. “We have a younger generation coming on board that are very tech savvy, and having a red dot on a handgun is something they may be looking for.”

Sheriff Will Akin did say, however, that using the red dot will remain optional. Deputies can stick with an iron sight if it works better for them. Training staff are still researching what red dot optics would be best for CCSO.

The last time the Sheriff’s Office switched handguns was in 2017-18, Captain Sapp said. Everyone currently has Glock 19s or Glock 17s. The new models that could best accommodate red dot optics are Glock 45s and 47s. Glock gave the Sheriff’s Office one of each to test and evaluate. The firearms training instructors agreed the Glock 47s, a 9 mm, best suited CCSO’s needs. Glock will custom-make the 47’s footprint for whatever optic the Sheriff’s Office chooses. The 47s also can accommodate deputies’ current magazines.

CCSO has a couple dozen employees who have two different handguns. Captain Sapp said the goal is to get away from that and have everyone issued a single Glock 47.

There are about 185 handguns currently in the Sheriff’s Office inventory. With the expansion of the armed detention officer program, that could increase. The new Glock 47s are running about $500 each. Captain Sapp said the County will issue a request for proposals to see both which vendor will offer the best purchase price and the most trade-in value for deputies’ current guns. Deputies will have the option to buy their duty weapon for personal use.

The timing of the transition will depend on when the request for proposal is issued, how the bids come back, and when the selected vendor can deliver the guns.

Take Your Child to Work Day

Twenty-seven children participated in Take Your Child to Work Day on April 25. You can see the full album of photos online. Here are a few highlights. (Click on any photo to see a larger version.)