To Protect and To Serve

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office combines the new with the old to create an atmosphere that’s inclusive of all community members, including those who work within it and those who depend upon it.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and DC County Jail

“Sheriff McGovern did all the things that the community liked and did a great job building programs. The feather in his cap was our jail reentry program, which is the staff that helps people transition out of custody successfully back into the community,” the sheriff explains.

The DGSO Reentry Program staff helps get former inmates’ IDs and birth certificates, which helps them secure housing and stable employment. That process can be difficult, but imagine if you’ve been spun out for years not knowing if you even have the documents, Armbrister says. “They (the staff) have been lifesavers.”

DGSO Staffing Challenges

The current Douglas County Jail opened on Sept. 11, 1999, with many new staff members hired to facilitate the needs and requirements of the larger space. One of these new hires was Armbrister. As many hires in that earlier group have retired or are near retirement, it has created staffing challenges for the Sheriff’s Office, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and surrounding communities bumping up pay in reaction to the labor shortage.

“With our recruiting, we could have overcome the pandemic, or we could have overcome the retirements, but we couldn’t overcome both of them,” Armbrister explains. “So the first two years we were short less than 10 people, and within four to five months, we were down over 30% in both corrections and operations.”

The Sheriff’s Office in 2023 did work with the Douglas County Commission, which supported a pay increase in late 2023.

“The last few months, we’ve seen a huge uptick in our recruiting, and so now it becomes a job (for) us to retain them, but it’s only been in the last few months we’ve actually felt like we are turning a corner,” he continues.

In addition to meeting staffing requirements, the department is also interested in the individuals they hire. “We want our agency to look like our community,” Armbrister adds.

Recruitment takes constant effort, and it’s been a mix of results. With retirements, the number of women officers dropped from close to 30% to around 20%, with the national average being around 12%. The agency in 2023 hired a transgender employee, and the team looks to expand the diversity through more resources in the community, including universities such as Haskell Indian Nations University. The department has seen a rise of staff from the Latinx community, as well, and it has provided a pay incentive for bilingual speakers.

Armbrister’s administration also created an LGBTQ+ liaison position and has sought to be more visible at Pride events in the region.

“Douglas County strives to be an open and accepting place for people of all backgrounds and orientations, and we want to do everything possible to keep it that way,” says Officer Kyle Appleby, the DGSO LGBTQ+ liaison.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and DC County Jail; Police Chief Rich Lockhart and Sheriff Jay Armbrister maintain a close relationship between their departments

Social Justice, Law Enforcement and Corrections

As Armbrister campaigned for office in 2020, national events related to police brutality and rioting caused many conversations about law enforcement to commence.

“The deaths of Michael Brown and George Floyd, and others were tragic and should not have happened,” Armbrister explains. “These devastating situations did create space and demand from the community for us to have conversations and reevaluate systems that had been left dormant for so long. It was an opportunity for us to change our generation of law enforcement and corrections, and we were able to embrace this movement and come into office, and utilize those tools as opposed to operating with the status quo.”

He says a lot of what they were doing was good having inherited what he calls a “juggernaut of an agency.” It was an opportunity to discuss the good things law enforcement had done for so long as well as listen to and engage with the people who wanted to know more about what they do.

For one, Armbrister has worked to open up many things to the public and build on what the Sheriff’s Office had done in recent years.

“Education and transparency are the best tools law enforcement has,” he says. “When we see things the community could have a problem with, we try to be proactive and explain what they are and how we would use them.”

Creating Change

There are several different ways the Sheriff’s Office is looking to be more transparent and make positive changes.

The use of new technology can be a helpful tool if used properly. Before 2022, there were zero body-worn cameras, and now all deputies and corrections officers wear them.

“They are helpful when people make complaints. We go back and look at the video, and can shed light on what happened. Usually it helps verify the deputy or corrections officer acted appropriately,” Armbrister explains. “There’s no two ways about it; they have made us better employees if you know that the witness that never blinks is watching. You do and say the right things, and so it makes our agency better.”

Other newer technologies being used are drones and license plate readers. The drones can be a huge help keeping officers safe in situations like investigating downed power lines or finding the source of a fire. While there have been concerns, Armbrister says the community has been receptive to the agency being up front and transparent about how it uses these tools.

“When people get upset about difficult things that happen nationally with law enforcement, I don’t blame anybody for that. But what I would ask is that people who do get upset (and) come to us and demand answers, that they also listen to us when we get them answers,” he adds.

Sheriff Armbrister giving the Leadership Lawrence class a tour of the Douglas County Jail

Mental Health for First Responders

Since taking office, Armbrister and his leadership have made it a priority to make sure first responders receive the care they need, because they are more likely to face post-traumatic stress. “It’s specifically so we can make sure that people who are doing this dangerous and stressful job are the very best versions of themselves, because that is what the community demands.”

For example, if an officer gets a knee injury in a foot chase and needs to have surgery, the insurance pays for the surgery and rehabilitation, and the officer can retire early and take his or her full retirement. However, if in that same foot chase the officer ends up seriously hurting a person, and that takes a mental toll on the officer and prevents him or her from doing the job, he or she is not eligible for retirement.

The Sheriff has lobbied the Kansas Legislature to pass legislation allowing first responders to be eligible for workers compensation because of a PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) diagnosis, and his agency has paid for a psychologist to be available and on call, and work only with first responders.

“We don’t want someone that isn’t 100 percent out there. It’s OK to not be OK, but it’s not OK to stay that way,” he says. “It’s been wildly successful.”

Looking Ahead

2024 is an election year for county elected officials, including the sheriff, and Armbrister is campaigning for a second term.

In addition to working to address staffing challenges, the county commission is discussing expansion of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St., which houses the operations division of the Sheriff’s Office, with corrections staff at the Douglas County Jail. “I would prefer we move to a new building at our jail so this agency can be whole again, as we are currently split between the jail and downtown,” he says.

Armbrister foresees a lot of conversations surrounding wind and solar in the community. While the Sheriff’s Office is not directly affected, the emotions that conversation has brought with the prospect of change in rural areas is “a hot-button issue,” he explains. Also, with more temporary workers, there is a tendency for this to bring a new dynamic to the area. No matter what happens in the community, the agency will continue to work to maintain its tradition of upholding public safety in all of Douglas County’s 475 square miles.

And this is the exact goal of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, to work for everyone.

Open a PDF of the article.