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The Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) Merit Board met Thursday to hear updates from Public Information Officer and Administrative Sgt. Doug Light, as well as news about the Jail Chemical Addiction Program (JCAP) and jail tablets.
With the conclusion of this year’s three-day Camp HERO, Light shared the youth program continues to grow.
"It’s like more of the community just keeps jumping on board," said Light. "We’re really blessed and fortunate to have the support that we do.”
He added Whitley County is starting its own Camp HERO after seeing KCSO’s program.
“It’s something that we’re proud of, here at the sheriff’s office,” Sheriff Jim Smith said.
Light also shared news about student resource officers (SROs) with the beginning of the school year.
“When you have newer SROs, it’s neat to see them kind of settle in,” Light said.
He described how newer SRO Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputy Mason Teel participated with students in “Bell Week,” the week leading up to the annual rivalry football game between the Tippecanoe Valley High School Vikings and Rochester High School Zebras.
“The kids got him to do a skit,” Light said. “It was him chasing the zebra mascot through the halls.”
Light said the post had approximately 3.2 million views and 85,000 likes the last time he checked.
“In our profession, we want things to trend positively,” Light said. “That was definitely a win for us.”
Light also talked about the new podcast KCSO launched, “More Coffee Than Donuts.” The podcast currently has three episodes, with the third featuring SROs from the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Warsaw.
“It ended up being our longest podcast, which was about an hour,” Light said. “We probably could have talked for three hours. It was great content, listening to them.”
The first episode covered the history of Kosciusko County. Light said he found “15 or 16 other, either cities or counties, that represent Kosciusko.” He learned a city named Kosciusko in Mississippi is also named after Thaddeus Kościuszko.
“I emailed the mayor of Kosciusko, Mississippi, inviting him to be on our podcast,” Light said. “I’m waiting to hear back, fingers crossed … it’d be a neat podcast to share a little bit about their history and our history, how they align a little bit.”
Light reminded the board Family Safety Day is Saturday, Sept. 19.
Casey Trombley, Jail Chemical Addiction Program (JCAP) coordinator, shared the program is starting its 22nd class. The current class is made up of women, the first women’s class the program has graduated in two years.
“We were very grateful that we were able to offer a women’s class right now,” Trombley said. “So this is a really big deal.”
“They’re already opening up and sharing some very vulnerable and personal information, so that’s a really good sign already out of the gate that these four months are going to prove beneficial for them.”
Trombley also shared that the program has started a graduate and instructor meeting for graduates on Saturday mornings.
“I think this has been a really good way for them to stay in contact, stay connected,” Trombley said.
She added that many graduates have gotten jobs at Slate, which she called a “benefit for our community but also for our graduates.”
Kosciusko County Jail Commander Lt. Kevin Gelbaugh updated the board on the jail’s tablets, saying he was “not happy” with “some issues with the current tablet.”
Alan Alderfer, a member of the board, asked Gelbaugh about the issues. Gelbaugh said the original sales representative, who provided “constant communication,” left the company. The new representative “has never contacted us” regarding the upcoming contract and only contacted them “less than a week ago,” after a month and a half of silence.
“It’s just bad service,” Gelbaugh said.
After investigating other options, Gelbaugh said he found a company out of Michigan. He, along with Assistant Jail Commander Chad Marsh, Director of Work Release Sergeant Jerrad Jones and Investigations Commander Lt. Josh Spangle, will travel to Michigan the next day to “see the platform, speak to the people who are actually using it to see how it works.”
Gelbaugh said the platform was created by a man who “was one of those people who was trying to use a system that was not user-friendly.”
Smith said he is looking forward to hearing feedback from the officers traveling to Michigan.
Chief Deputy Chris McKeand shared his thoughts on the response of first responders to the drowning of Brian Conwell Friday, Sept. 4.
“Last Friday, we had what I call a critical incident up on Lake Wawasee which tragically ended up with a gentleman losing his life,” McKeand said. “But in responding to that, I think Kosciusko can definitely be proud with the way all their first responders reacted to that situation.”
He mentioned the Turkey Creek Fire Territory, Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory, diving teams, medical entities and other “public servants (that) are out there serving them and working together.”
“You hate to have to use a resource, but you’re sure glad you have it when a time arises, and that was a perfect case of that,” Smith said.
