Thursday, January 21, 2010

From Amanda Oliver:

I would like to thank Sgt. Ruth, Deb Napier and Kim Hunter for coming to my aid when I fell in the hallway of the communication division. My injury although minor “sprained wrist” was not a need for panic it was however a need of compassion and concern. All three employees are most deserving of the statement “Accountability and Responsibility” and it is nice to know that when you need help you can count on your fellow employees to be there.
A big Thank You to All!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

From a Citizen:

Dear Sir,
On Sunday January 10, 2010 my vehicle was struck by another in a hit and run accident on I-435 near Front street at approximately 0345. I contacted two of your deputies, Jeremy Gee and Chad Wilderdyke who happened to be approximately two miles up the road.

I want to state to you that these two deputies were totally useful and professional in helping me deal with my problem. In terms of seeing my health was ok, contacting other law enforcement personnel to try and stop the other vehicle, pursuing said vehicle, checking the roadside place where the accident occurred to ensure there was no debris which could be a hazard to the next vehicle that came along and finally in finding the license plate of the car which had hit me. I could not be more pleased with the service these two deputies provided me.

Sincerely,
Brian

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

From Sgt. Aimee Bartlett

I would like to thank Dep. Gary Edwards for extending the courtesy of a simple phone call. Staley High School had been out of session for three weeks when Dep. Edwards returned to work there on Monday, January 11th. My off-duty assignment begins at 0630 hours there because of the early release schedule the day I work. Dep. Edwards returned to his office at the school after a break and realized that during this week there was no early release. I’m sure he had enough catching up to do that he could have just filed that information away. Instead, he took 30 seconds to pick up the phone and call me to let me know that I didn’t have to report quite so early. While it’s only a half hour difference in my reporting time, it’s enough that it enabled me to have time to take care of other responsibilities on my way to work that morning. Dep. Edwards took action when no action was necessary or expected. That is why it was appreciated so very much. Thank you for your courtesy, Gary!

From Sgt. Amanda Propst:

Sheriff Boydston,

On Wednesday, January 13th, the detention center was extremely busy both on the housing floor and in booking. While we are busy every week day anymore, this day was extremely stressful due to the day's events and the fact that inmates were being brought in seemingly by the dozens. Stress levels were HIGH for everyone, but the staff did an excellent job handling the work and just rolling with the punches.

I would like to commend the entire dayshift crew that worked that day, along with the receptionists, for taking it as it came and handling it professionally and as efficiently as possible. While we were snowed under in booking, the housing floor staff kept everything under control and handled inmate movements as quickly as they could to assist us in booking. In addition to this e-mail, I have dropped a blue ticket in the box for the following personnel: Dep. Polston, Dep. Wolfe, DO Phillips, Dep. Cashatt, DO Hamilton, DO Walker, DO Thurston, CCO Stock, DO Augustin, Dep. Zimmerman, CCO Jones, DO Linard, CCO Ragan, DO Stock, DO Hansmann, BT Ferguson, Dep. Hicks and DO Dorsey. And because of their patience and assistance I have also included Snooks Wright and Kay Mitchell.

Last, but definitely not least, I would also like to thank the nightshift, who took the mess head on when they came in and didn't bat an eye or grumble about anything! When everyone works together to get the job done, regardless of what department or what shift they are on, it makes things run more smoothly for everyone and it is GREATLY appreciated!

From Sgt. Amanda Propst:

Sheriff Boydston,

I would like to commend Sr. Lt. Steve Siercks for what I believe was going over and beyond his normal responsibilities.

On Thursday, January 14, I was the only sergeant working in detention. It was going to be another extremely busy day again and because of the day before, I was getting behind in some of the daily work that I perform.

Lt. Siercks was scheduled to attend a seminar yesterday morning. Instead of going to the seminar, and because he was aware of how stressful the previous day had been, he came in to detention and took over the role of housing floor sergeant. He handled everything that had to do with the housing floor and even took care of filling at least 3 vacant overtime slots that needed to be filled for today. While this doesn't sound like much, filling that many overtime slots alone can and does require at least a couple of hours.

During the day we contended with doors not working, intercoms going out, keypads not functioning, answering the usual deluge of phone calls and at one point when we thought we were just about caught up, we lost the phones and computers for almost an hour, bringing almost all work in booking to a standstill.
I should note that this is not a one-time occurrence - since he returned to detention he has been stepping in to assist on the housing floor. This includes performing patdowns, escorts and responding to codes with the rest of the officers. His dedication to his staff and willingness to step in and do whatever is needed is admirable and I truly appreciate it. What may seem like nothing to anyone outside of detention, means a great deal to me. I was free to concentrate on the work load in booking without having to run back and forth to the housing floor.

From Sgt. Steve Wilhelm:

Sheriff Boydston,

I would like to commend all of the essential Field Operations personnel that braved the extremely cold temperatures and the massive amounts of snow during the recent snow storms. The names are too many to mention here but they include not only Road Patrol Deputies from all shifts but the dispatchers that were able to make it in to the office as well.

The Dispatchers took numerous calls regarding stranded motorists and vehicle accidents. The Patrol Deputies worked at least 12 hr shifts, many times it was more than that, responding to these calls for service in the sometimes dangerously cold temperatures. Not only did the essential Field Operations personnel need to come in to work but they first needed to clear their patrol vehicles of the snow and ice which required them to come to work even earlier than usual. I know that most Deputies spent a lot of time before their shifts digging their patrol cars out of the snow, so they could make it to work on time.

To my knowledge we didn’t have one essential Field Operations Deputy call in and say that it was just to cold or their was just to much snow to make it in. While the non-essential personnel were given some time off during these storms, the essential personnel were here doing their respective jobs. And they all did them extremely well, which is something that I think both they and this Department should be very proud of.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

From Sgt. Danny Ruth:

I would like to report Cpl Tracy Wade, Dep Lisa Zessin and Dep Dave Foster as being responsible and accountable. The mentioned Deputy's have done a great job in representing the Clay County Sheriff's Office in the past few months. As you may know the Dart unit along with the Clay County Circuit Court has developed a proogram in assisting victims of Domestic Violence in obtaining After Hours Ex-Parte's. This unit has done an excellent job along with The Courts IT Department in making Ex-Parte orders readily availible for victims. This program was designed to allow Law Enforcement Agency's to obtain After Hours Ex-Partes on line and assist the victims while they are with the agency and not have to send them to the Sheriff's Office. In conjuction with this program Cpl Tracy Wade completed a Lesson Plan, and with the assistance of the D.A.R.T Unit all law enforcement agency's in Clay County have been trained in this new program which has been a success. Since December of 2009, several agency's have used the program and have said nothing but good things about it and the D.A.R.T Deputy's who made it possible. The Deputy's have received calls in the middle of the night from agency's needing assistance and not one has complained. They treat this as a task that is needed in their every day job and run with it.

From Sgt. Gillespie

I would like to be the first to send in some information for some exceptional performance by the officers I had in booking last night. When these officers reported for duty in booking they had a mountain of work awaiting them as there were 13 prisoners that were still awaiting to be processed in. They jumped in and went to work and ended up booking in 17 prisoners throughout the night. Along with the intakes they also had bonds, releases and two Pen trips to get done. We ended up doing 15 releases throughout the night also. The officers involved are as follows;

DO Leo Brewer
Dep Jason Bremer
Dep Thomas Gabriel
Booking Tech Suzie James

From Sgt. Brandi Roof

I would like to report Sgt. Amanda Propst for being accountable and responsible for her actions. Today she reviewed booking paperwork and released a Gladstone Inmate that posted bond. She sent the bond paperwork to the Gladstone court clerk and was immediately notified that the court date given was incorrect. Sgt. Propst then attempted to contact the inmate via the cell phone number she gave during her booking, the battery was dead on the cell phone and the voicemail box was full. Sgt. Propst called the inmate's emergency contact (which was the inmate's husband who was out of town) she explained the situation to him. He said he would contact his wife and have her call the jail. Sgt. Propst called the bonding company to report the error and the correct court date. She then discovered that the inmate had a court appearance in Clay County today, so she reported the information to the court personnel. With all of that said I feel that Sgt. Amanda Propst went above and beyond to correct an over sight that she had when reviewing paperwork. These efforts were a tremendous help to me. She resolved the error in a very timely and professional manner and I appreciate that.