Community Involvement

I think every cop starts out wanting to help others. There may be other reasons, but that is the driving factor for the great majority of us. After a few years, we get jaded. We only see the worst in people, so we get cynical. I have to be honest, I was a drug court skeptic. In Barry County, we kept arresting the same people over and over. We actually had a tally board up in our detective office of  drug court participants, and their subsequent arrests, , deaths, or successes. On our tally board, our total for successes was always zero. Since 2021, I've been active in our local treatment court and I have to tell you, either they weren't doing it right over there or things have changed. I'm just a small part of the program in McDonald County, but under the direction of judge Lepage and prosecutor Cheney, I've seen changes in people that I would never have expected. People that had been frequent flyers in the criminal justice system, are now thriving, and have become productive members of society. Our prosecutor works with us to send to prison those that need to go, but she also tries to stop the recidivism by helping to heal those afflicted by addiction. I'm proud to be a part of that. 

Every year millions of children in this country are exposed to trauma, but few ever receive help to recover from psychological damage caused by the experience. Research shows trauma can undermine children’s ability to learn, interact and form emotional bonds, and function appropriately in the classroom. 

 Handle With Care is a cooperative program formed between the McDonald County Sheriff's Office, McDonald County School District, and McDonald County 911, in order to provide schools with a “heads up” if a child has been identified at a scene of a traumatic event. This could be a domestic violence situation, a house fire, a drug raid, traffic accident, or arrest of a parent. 

HWC was started several years ago at the high school, but it never took off county wide, and most law enforcement officers across the county were not even aware of the program. When I learned about the program, I immediately recognized how important it was to bring the Sheriff's Office on board, and lead as an example for other law enforcement agencies in the county. When a child is identified at a scene of a traumatic event, the officer sends a message to the school with the child's name, and the words "Handle With Care", and nothing more. This way, the school can observe the child for change of behavior. Maybe the teacher postpones a child's test, ignores them napping in class, or sends them to the counselor if they seem upset or distressed.  HWC provides an excellent opportunity  for LEO to buffer the effects of crime, violence, and trauma, by getting kids the help they need. The additional benefits are that it could prevent emotional or behavioral issues down the road, prevent kids from developing addictions, and prevent kids from entering the juvenile justice system.