EP26: Empowering Youth - SPO Kayla Richard

#dickinsonpdnd #offthecuff 
Oғғ ᴛʜᴇ Cᴜғғ Pᴏᴅᴄᴀsᴛ | Eᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ #26

"Empowering Youth" - SPO Kayla Richard

We brought on School Resource Officer Kayla Richard to showcase how an early interaction with a police officer can light the flame for a lifetime of service, which has now in turn made her a catalyst for positively impacting the lives of juveniles in our city.

Kayla’s path runs through North Dakota State Radio during the DAPL protest, the clerk’s office where paperwork shapes outcomes, and the Youth Correction Center where structure and trust turn “punishment” into progress. She opens up about academy realities—hospital corners, EVOC, firearms, and the infamous OC spray—and the quieter skills that last longer than a bruise: patience under pressure, empathy that doesn’t flinch, and the discipline to look squared-away because details signal control. We talk frankly about women in policing and why layered critical thinking, rapport with teens, and time bought through conversation can change the arc of a call.

The episode centers on two powerful scenes: a violent fight at the high school where Kayla moved first and stabilized fast, and a late-night rescue at a gas station where a mother and two little girls found safety and a way home. 

If you care about safer schools, resilient youth, and practical public safety, this one’s for you.

If this conversation resonated, tap follow, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—your support helps more neighbors find their way here.

Chapters

• 0:00 Monthly Updates And New Live Idea
• 3:20 Impaired Driving Crashes And Community Plea
• 5:36 Retirement, Dispatch Hiring, And Training
• 9:18 First Responder Day And School Traffic Fix
• 12:22 Winter Parking Rules And Thanksgiving Dinner
• 15:32 Meet SRO Kayla: Path Into Policing
• 23:56 Inside State Radio And DAPL Lessons
• 30:10 Academy Life: Standards, EVOC, And OC
• 37:30 Women In Policing: Strengths And Myths
• 42:30 The Big High School Fight And Aftermath
• 50:30 Rapport, Student Maturity, And SRO Impact
• 56:30 A Career Highlight: Protecting A Family
• 1:06:00 Advice To Students And Purpose
• 1:16:00 Speed Cuffing And Farewell

Transcript

DC Hanson: 0:20

All right, from Western North Dakota, the men and women of blue are coming right back at you. We're straight Off the Cuff here with episode 26. Good afternoon, Mr. Hanel.

LT Hanel: 0:29

There we are. Yeah, we're doing an afternoon session today.

DC Hanson: 0:31

Yeah. Yeah. It's been a while. Typically, uh we get a little sleepier in the afternoon, so we try to do them earlier.

LT Hanel: 0:37

Especially old age for me, sundowners starts creeping in. So maybe sometimes better in the morning, but afternoon is fine too.

DC Hanson: 0:44

Well, we were on probably about a month ago or so, give or take, and uh we had chatted a little bit and we wanted to really get back on track, hitting one of these a month, kind of doing some updates. We even have some fresh things that maybe we we kick out maybe early 26, kind of kick out some new ideas, possibly try to do something, maybe where we feed the public to give us some things, maybe to uh like a guest list podcast where we just answer questions from the public, maybe see any um almost open it up to like beyond coffee with a cop. Maybe this one is just what's on your mind and let us answer it.

LT Hanel: 1:17

Kind of a virtual type of type of session. It it uh I kind of thought of it here a little year or two ago and it just kind of percolated on the back burner for a while. But having like a I I want to call it Off the Cuff Live or like a Ride-Along live or something like that. Um so yeah, we'd we'd be soliciting some questions and um different topics of what the citizens would want to hear us to talk about. Um you know, we maybe intermingle that with uh with some more stories and some other stuff. I know that's that's always some uh the feedback we get from citizens, as that's what they like hearing us uh chat about. So we'll try to cram the room in with four or five of us in here and and uh so yeah, we'll we'll see what uh we can put together here and and uh again happening at uh more of like a live session. So you know definitely uh uh no no pressure what whatsoever.

DC Hanson: 1:58

Exactly, right? No more editing tools needed on the website. No, no, no. It's no, I like the idea. I think it's good. You know, uh I think about last week just doing the quarterly report uh in front of the commission. I think a lot of what the public sees from our commission reports, sometimes they maybe they want a little bit more meat on the bone when it comes to kind of like some of the higher profile stuff. So I think you know, kind of marrying that idea that you had had, I think it'd be really nice. It'd be a nice way to kind of mix this podcast into almost like a news source of sorts.

LT Hanel: 2:28

Yeah, in a sense, because you know traditional media and newspapers kind of limited to you know a you know a single issue, the newscast, uh 30-second sound bites. So you're you know, having this media uh capability here with with uh podcasting and and YouTube and our social media uh reach, uh being able to do more of a long form uh format on that and and and going into a little bit more details is like you mentioned, some of some maybe the uh the trends that we're seeing or some of the bigger cases that we're seeing, being able to maybe get get into a little bit further detail that we couldn't typically do.

DC Hanson: 2:58

Yeah, and and uh you know, you you talk about some of the trends that we're in, and it feels like we're we could probably play the same sound bite that we played, what, five, six times this year in these things. But you think again, uh we had Officer Mauser on last time and he talked a lot. We we really kind of went deep into, you know, why are we really aggressive when it comes to drunk driving and intoxicated driving, impaired driving? Did a really good job laying it out as like why we do that. And what do we have here to talk about right out of the gates when you talk about high profile situations?

LT Hanel: 3:30

How do you crash?

DC Hanson: 3:31

Is yeah, you know, in in the city we had a scary one where um individual um highly impaired ends up crashing through somebody's garage and then hitting the like the lower bedroom wall. Right. Um, thank God the the the child wasn't in the room at the time.

LT Hanel: 3:48

They were home, but but not in the room.

DC Hanson: 3:51

Yeah, thank goodness. And then the other piece are our friends in the county two times now. Um, you know, similar circumstances where you're talking about impaired driving with no seatbelts. Yep. Um, you know, it doesn't take a genius to know that the survivability of rollovers, especially if you're impaired, like it it is a bad combination. Uh bad combination to be having. So here we all are again talking about the same issues. Um, you know, we here uh have been preaching it, we've been talking about it our last podcast, you know, we kind of highlighted it, but there just needs to be something. We need to find some kind of traction here, whether it be some kind of community partnerships or something, that we need to maybe get this message out even a little bit broader than we are.

LT Hanel: 4:32

Certainly. And and the best we can do right now at this point um is just ask the public, you know, those those watching, making sure, you know, if you're a parent of a of a kid, you know, talk to them about the importance of not getting in a vehicle with somebody that's impaired or driving themselves when they're impaired, you know, call for that ride. Um, and and just just being that voice of reason before they have to come to make that decision because it's well it's it's too late when uh when when you're starting to tumble end over end, and realizing, yeah, that was probably not a good idea. Shouldn't even be that position to begin with. So a lot of a lot of that and and and just even for the adults in here, it it's you know, Uber Lyft, you know, all these ride share uh um companies out there, yeah, there's there's plenty of options and resources out there. You just shouldn't be drinking and driving.

DC Hanson: 5:15

Well, and the other piece that it it's scary because when you think about the kind of the trend that we've been in in this fall, and our fall weather has been fantastic, then you add on top of it, if you're out and you're having a few too many and it's cold, like it's about to start getting here, right? You know, you're even maybe more apt to to try to press it, press your luck. So we just again uh we hit that piece, but we do have some good news. We did have we did have some some successes and some wins. Um we had a really nice retirement party. We had Kim McGarvey, one of our dispatchers. Yep. Uh yeah. You know, we we we talked about this and on the lead up when we were kind of setting up um the retirement party itself. Twenty years. A long time.

LT Hanel: 5:56

20 years to do anything. To do anything. It's definitely a long time, but especially in our line of work, uh whether you know police officer, dispatcher, firefighter, 20 years is is a track.

DC Hanson: 6:04

Yeah, it's it's you know, it's it when she goes back and she thinks about her career and all the different um, you know, it got talked about in the retirement, but all the different lives that she's been able to impact positively and just all the difference that you make over the course of a career. So kudos to Kim and we wish her the best. She's still kind of in the field. Yep.

LT Hanel: 6:22

Just next door. She's next door. Yeah.

DC Hanson: 6:25

Uh brothers in Brown uniform. She she stuck it out, and she, you know, that's one thing about the the law enforcement family is that you kind of once you get into that first responder field and uh becomes home, it really is that it's kind of a second home for you.

LT Hanel: 6:37

So that's gonna be a good plug. We do have a position to fill now in dispatch. Um, and in fact, we're we're gonna be hiring for three now because uh the uh county and city commissions uh uh were both very gracious this year uh to allow us to expand our staffing because we've been identifying the last couple years that the the current staffing level that we have just didn't allow for a lot of uh people on the bench, so to speak. So if we have people calling out sick and and then somebody else was on training that week and somebody else took vacation, we're down to bare bones and we can't just not answer the phone. Yeah. Uh it so thank you. They a big thanks to the commissioners for for supporting us on that. And uh we'll be starting uh interview process for uh those three positions here. Um I'm assuming next week we'll probably start putting actually by the time this is uh hitting the air, I'm guessing that uh job listing will be posted. So if it's something that that interests you, if if you want to make uh I always like say, if you don't want to make uh or if you want to make uh the difference, not just a difference, better no better way to do it than uh being a uh public safety telecommunicator. So look out for that job listing.

DC Hanson: 7:38

You know, one of the one of the um funer things I get to do is when I get to do these second interviews with these dispatch applicants, and you get to kind of hear and pick their brain as to like, well, sometimes they don't even know you know what this job or what the field looked like, but something was calling them, and then you get some applicants where they're like, Man, I just you know, being able to tell first responders where to go or wanting to be on the line when somebody's in a frantic state and just want to be that calm voice. Yeah. So it's just kind of all over the board, similar to similar to law enforcement. But you know, if you don't right now, if you don't necessarily think, oh, I could do this job, I promise you there's been a lot of applicants that have come in. The qualities we look for is just having a really good sense of yourself and how to operate inside of yourself, being able to process things and then just execute those orders and just sharing information. And we've seen our training programs that are get done inside the dispatch center. They can, you know, we've we've said it too, we can we can basically train a monkey how to make a traffic stop. You know, so uh it can really take you um take you to a whole different level when you jump into that training. Exactly.

LT Hanel: 8:42

And and we got a really our dispatcher twos are like our second in commands, they've been doing an excellent job making uh like updating our our training uh protocols. And uh for the last year or so, they've they've been really heavily engaged with that. So we yeah, as long as you have the core basics of being able to communicate and and being able to um not so much uh multitask, that's that's kind of eww word now. Now it's more of uh switch tasking is the new concept that they're putting. As long as you you kind of have those fundamentals, we'll teach you everything else. You know, all the phones and the radios and stuff like that. It's pretty pretty simple beyond that.

DC Hanson: 9:16

So that kind of blends us in. We had a nice event. Um First Responder Day happened. And it was a very cool little event that um Mr. Muffley, the principal down at Heart River, kind of had this concept and his staff executed it really well. We had an entire assembly, kindergarten through fifth grade, kind of through a party. Uh we had police officers, we had dispatchers, we had firefighters, we had uh some new paramedics from the fire department. Everybody kind of came in. The kids did like a you know, call it like a little pep rally of sorts for first ref for search responders, and it was excellent. It was uh it was great to great to have them um kind of think of us in that way. You know, sometimes sometimes, you know, the National Police Week, we get up, we get recognized and things, but this was a this was a different one. This was this was a very cool experience.

LT Hanel: 10:03

Yeah, really well put together, and we appreciate the invite on that, and and just being able to impart you know that that partnership really early on in in young kids' lives that uh you know have them aspire to something too, that you know maybe some days they they'll be the ones walking into a you know assembly like that and getting recognized for their for their work and their efforts.

DC Hanson: 10:20

Let's stay in the school. And yesterday, which will probably be net last week when this thing airs, but yesterday, um SRO Jarrett Blain, who's been on the podcast, he kind of championed something. Um he had come to me one of the first days of school, I was actually out at the middle school and he was kind of highlighting and showing me some of the complexities uh with traffic flow out at the middle school. And um kudos to Jarrett. Jarrett is one of those guys where when he sees a problem, like he's not he's not scared to sink his teeth into and to kind of try to find a way to help resolve this thing. So, you know, I just kind of grabbed onto his project with him and we just kind of started to work something. We ended up grabbing City Engineer, we worked with school administrators, public works. We've got a new process, and we hope it's gonna take some of the pressure off of both pickup and drop-off time out there. But if you haven't seen it, we'll give you a plug to our video that we did on it. Um we understand it's gonna take a little bit of time, you know, that building growing paints, yeah, a little bit of growing paints, but it and this isn't the entire process. You know, we we just didn't have the time to basically execute the whole thing. But as it goes on, I really do think that parents will kind of see the the method behind the madness. Sure.

LT Hanel: 11:31

Yeah, and then just to just to summarize it, it's basically just a uh establishing a queue lane for uh east and westbound turning traffic. So it'd be when you're going north on uh twenty on 29th Avenue West, they're approaching 21st. Uh instead of just having the uh the turn lane start what 20 feet from the from the intersection, it's actually almost uh right where the uh bus loop uh starts. So all that's now a no uh parking and loading zone, it's strictly just lanes uh to to occupy the queue for left and right traffic on the 21st.

DC Hanson: 12:03

And the whole concept of this is we're trying to take pressure off of the exit, which would be that 29th Avenue when you're exiting the parent loop, just so that we can fit more vehicles on 29th and kind of keep everybody when they come to pick up, it's smoother. When you leave the school, it's gonna be smoother instead of some of that bottlenecking that we've typically seen. But right. Let's talk. Winter's coming up. Mikey always does uh he always does uh some funny uh pieces when it comes to our parking ordinances and things like that. But I think it's it's just important. Some people may be new to the community. Um there's a lot of road construction projects out there and things, but what uh what do you want to convey on your winter parking ordinances this year?

LT Hanel: 12:42

Sure, we're we're full swing here now into the uh trailer boats and um camper ordinances uh have to be off the street now uh November 1st to uh April, right? Uh April. Um so making sure um before the snow flies uh to to get those uh stored away off the street, uh either on the private property or into a storage facility. Um yeah, but again before the snow flies, it's just uh we we preach again and again. The reason we do this is one, to keep our neighbors cle uh cleaned up from you know extensively overparked uh campers, boats, trailers, and then vehicles as well. Um but it's just also when the snow does come, which it will, a lot of it, uh, that our snow that our street department, um, you know, when they when they do those initial passes, you know, that one berm, you know, for that first snowstorm starts and then now that car doesn't get moved. Now the second snowstorm that berm goes, and before you know it, you got a one-way roadway in town, especially some of the narrower streets in town. So that's the method behind the the madness there, the reasoning behind it. So uh yeah, if if uh if you do have those parked on the streets, please get those moved.

DC Hanson: 13:43

And I just one the only thing I'm gonna highlight on that is it's it's imperative to do this before that snow starts flying because we've seen how many times have we had complaints now and then we're having to move them at the back and the back end. Those snow berms basically turn into concrete, you know, throughout the window, and then all of a sudden you're talking about breaking things and trailers and stuff. So please please do use the time now to get that stuff off the streets.

LT Hanel: 14:04

Exactly.

DC Hanson: 14:06

Into November, we got an event coming up. Uh we did this last year, and it was and it was a massive success. Uh we kind of partnered here at the DPD and our association partnered with Sodexo, which is who operates down at the cafeteria of DSU's student hall. We're doing the same thing again this year. We're we're we're pushing it out. I've already got uh I think two days ago I pushed out looking for volunteers. This becomes like a police department family type of an event. Yep. And that's exactly what it looks like again this year. I've got probably 20 volunteers already. We did monetary donations to Sodexo, and then we'll go down 1,200 meals, I think, last year we packaged up.

LT Hanel: 14:45

So what you're talking about is the uh community Thanksgiving dinner.

DC Hanson: 14:48

Thanks very much. Yes, yep, I got too far ahead of my Thanksgiving community dinner. So we've been pushing that out, and we're gonna continue to push that piece out. But uh yeah, it's just uh, you know, like I said, 1,200 meals, I think, between the two go meals and the ones that got uh fed there. So great, great event for the city.

LT Hanel: 15:04

It's it's a free meal. So if if you're alone for the holidays, uh just uh money's just not there this year, come in and join us. Yeah, we'll be at the uh DSCU Student Center. Uh start ink serving, I believe, at 1130. Yep. Until about one. 130.

DC Hanson: 15:18

130. Yeah, we typically go about two hours.

LT Hanel: 15:19

But yeah, yeah. So uh feel free to join.

DC Hanson: 15:23

Well, we've talked a little bit about the school, we've talked a little bit about partnerships, we've talked about um you know even some patrol stuff. I think that's probably the perfect way to segue in. We've got a guest on today who's very excited to be with us. And uh let's give Kayla Richard, uh, school resource officer, a warm welcome here. Well, welcome, Kayla.

SPO Richard: 15:43

Thank you guys. Glad to be here, I think.

DC Hanson: 15:46

So it'll be good. It'll be good. So she's a little fearful that she might do too much talking, so we're gonna we're gonna see what we can do. But why don't you do this? Um let's just talk about your journey. What uh where are you from and uh what brought you into law enforcement?

SPO Richard: 16:02

Okay, so um I was born in Dickinson. I lived here for a year or so, um, and then I moved to Bismarck, so I grew up in Bismarck. Um from Bismarck, I I went to Century High School. Um kind of got interested into policing um after having a really positive experience with a patrol officer named, I think his name was um Sass, Tim Sass, I want to say, um, with the Bismarck PD. So we had called in somebody uh for littering or throwing some garbage out or whatever it was, and ended up meeting up with Officer Sass and just got to talking with him um just about kind of whatever we wanted to talk about. It was just different. We and he was very um the way he talked with us, uh, the way he treated us like we were just normal community members, not these, you know, teenagers calling us in. Um I got a lot of I gained a lot of respect for him and for, I think because of that positive experience for law enforcement from there. And so um after that I took an intro to criminal justice class in high school, did uh tour of the Bismarck Police Department, did a ride along with Officer Scarlett Vetter, who's also an SRO now and has been for a while, uh in Bismarck still. And so I just got introduced to the world of policing from that and decided I wanted to go to college for criminal justice from there. And so I went to Bismarck State College and then my not state college or university through BSC. Um so I have criminal justice, a bachelor's degree, and an associate surgery in criminal justice from there. Um so yeah, from there I I used to dispatch right after college. I um graduated and worked at North Dakota State Radio as a 911 dispatcher. I did that for about two-ish, two and a half years. Um and like you had mentioned just before, it's if you think you can't do it, you can. Um it's it was such a fun job. It was a very rewarding and fulfilling job, but also you got to be behind the scenes and do almost like detective work, but also got to have an adrenaline dump at the same time, or got to do that, like, you know, you're you're busy and it's chaotic in the telecommunication center and everybody's doing different, you know, everyone's doing different things, or there's multiple calls coming in at one time. Um, and it would be just busy and exciting and chaotic. And once that got done, um, once you were done with, you know, and it was usually Friday or Saturday nights, of course, but you really never know when something can pop off. So um after that it was really fun.

LT Hanel: 18:58

It was a good time. For those who might not be familiar, what what is state radio and what yeah, what do they all cover?

SPO Richard: 19:04

So I and I didn't really know a lot about state radio until I applied actually and ended up working there. But state radio is um it worked there over at the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services. Um they're also at Frame Barracks, if anybody's familiar with Bismarck. Um so they are, I think they have 25 or 26 911 counties. So there's those more rural counties that contract their 911 services through um North Dakota State Radio. So their 911 calls go into Bismarck at uh state radio, and then we would dispatch out from there um to the local police departments or sheriff's offices, and then they also dispatch for all of North Dakota Highway Patrol, um, game and fish, pearl and probation, um, and parks, uh park rangers and parks American stuff like that too. So um and they do every I mean it's you have your it was kind of a culture shock coming here to such a smaller uh telecommunication center um coming from state radio. So state radio is bigger, it's got um the minimum back then, so this is around 2016, 2017, um minimum amount around then was five people at the least, and six to seven, six was like your sweet spot. That was a good amount of um communic communicators to have that night. Um, and you would do sections of the state. So um you would have Grand Forks, Devil's Lake area, you'd have Fargo, Bismarck, uh Williston, um the Dickinson killed your area kind of thing. And so I I was fortunate to work through the North Dakota No-Dapple protest as well, too. So I we dispatched for Morton County and for the highway patrol during that. So that was a very stressful time, even behind the scenes. I we obviously can't imagine what it was like for those that of you guys that were there. Um, but just even behind the scenes and watching what officers were going through at that protest was stressful in itself. And once um it got kind of heated and whatnot with that, we you know, we had to be warned too about being careful with where we're saying we were working, who we're telling um personal information to, that type of thing. And um it was just it was a crazy time. Um but I learned a lot from that as well, too. And it was a very once it was all said and done, um it was exhausting, but it was um something that I think helped formulate or help me change into somebody who really recognizes how much um first responders in law enforcement, um, how much their day-to-day life can change just within a couple days to a couple weeks.

DC Hanson: 21:55

Um yeah. So as she was kind of telling her story here, I made two notes to myself. I mean one of them is a quick note. Did you catch the way that she described getting to work during DAPL? It wasn't it, you know, she didn't describe it as like, oh, I had to do DAPL. And I just it's just it's such a simple piece that you can miss, but she talked about it as a privilege. You know, she was privileged and she got to work, she got to work it. And uh, you know, so I I made mention of it, made note of that. And I think that just kind of speaks to the character of somebody, and that's a first response. Is you don't want somebody else to have to deal with a crisis or a situation that you could potentially put your hands into. So I I mean I that's that's one piece. So kudos to you, Kayla. The other the other one is um You know, you talked about your experience in wanting to start exploring policing. And I think of this. That call for service with the littering, I mean, how simple of a situation for give me the officer's name again, I forget what you say.

SPO Richard: 22:59

Uh Sass. Officer Sass.

DC Hanson: 23:01

I mean, how many times as a patrol officer, Caleb, have you received a call similar to that, or you go to calls that maybe somebody could look at as like, uh, it's kind of a simple call, somewhat meaningless in the scope of a big picture thing. But here's the piece that that officers sometimes don't recognize that Officer Sass did is that every encounter, every single encounter could be something like that. And uh and it ref took me back to last week. Last week I'm leaving the office, uh, passing through the lobby, and Officer Jay Claxton is sitting down with this elderly gentleman taking a call for service. And I just I I I felt compelled and I shot her a text because it was precisely what we love to see from our patrol officers. And that was taking that little bit extra, that that that customer service piece that you don't see all the time, but it's it really is so lasting, and that's just an interesting that's such a great way to to kind of to keep you in the game and to keep you like you know to have that spot. So those were the two pieces that I guess I just wanted to highlight. But go on. So so your time in Bismarck is not done.

SPO Richard: 24:06

Nope, nope. So then um, yeah, from there I went to Burleigh County uh um district court. I worked as a deputy clerk of court there uh for just a couple months. I think it was six months or so. Uh I did the civil side of things. So there's the civil side and the criminal side in the clerk of court's office. Um Burleigh County is of course bigger. So we would do a lot of different um, that's more so the behind the scenes at the court side of stuff. So uh making sure that paperwork is submitted correctly and that warrants are being put in correctly, um, or being um like if we had people with warrants coming into the court, making sure we notified the correct people, um, and then just yeah, working with judges, attorneys, that type of thing. And then of course the public as well, too, was a big part of that. So I learned a lot about um more so the process and how to read legal documents, and I never would have thought that would have been come in so much handy, and it really does. So that was a huge uh even today. There'll be times where I'll, you know, if I'm reading something on indie courts or if I call our state's attorney and ask where a case is at or, you know, what is needed, what documents are we at. Um, even just being able to understand what they're talking about is really handy sometimes. And if I have people even on phone call or on calls for service, they'll show me these documents and they'll just say, I don't understand, or can you look at this and help me interpret it? Um so being able to help people with that too is just it was a small thing that I didn't think would transfer and it really did quite a bit, actually. So so yeah, I did that and then um after that went to a North Dakota Youth Correctional Center for two and a half years and worked there in the uh they they're called cottages, uh, the buildings are, and that was a very fun job. Um you at the time had to have a bachelor's degree um to be, I was a juvenile institution residence specialist. Um I think it's a little bit different now, but I worked at Maple Cottage and Brown Cottage, so I worked with juvenile females primarily. I did work with the males too, but primarily in the juvenile female buildings. Um and we would work with girls from all walks of life, a lot of girls from South Dakota, um, every now and then Montana or Minnesota, kind of depending. Um and you basically got to make sure that these kids were not only going to school, and there's a school on campus, Marmot High School, um, making sure that they were, you know, doing that type of stuff, but teaching them everyday tasks that they maybe didn't learn at home. So the ages of the kids were 12 to 19. Um your median age I would say is probably 15, 16, 17. But you did every now and then we'd get some 13 and 12 year olds. Um and so just teaching it was teaching kids how to be not just better people, but how to um live and how, you know, and it was really that was another one that was very rewarding, and it was like parenting, I guess, baby criminals, as I would say. But but they were, I mean, it was more rehabilitative than punitive. Um, would it be is it a consequence and a punishment to go to YCC? Absolutely.

DC Hanson: 27:30

But um at that age of an offender, though, the the the goal of what you're trying to accomplish inside of YCC is totally different than the state penitentiary. And I think when people think that, they might think like, oh, you are a prison guard. It's like, well, you're way more of like a care coordinator than you are a prison guard in that setting.

LT Hanel: 27:50

So the the offenses they commit are still kids are still pretty serious, right? What what were some of the like the offenses that some of the kids were in there for?

SPO Richard: 27:58

Um so uh attempted murder. Um we've had kids, they had kids that um aggravated assaults, multiple aggravated assaults, um burglaries, uh robberies, um different types of weapon offenses, even just being in possession of weapons, um possession of uh different drugs, um as far as like amounts of drugs, but it it takes a lot to get there, basically. And so you're thinking your C B felonies and or multiple A misdemeanors over a span of time, but um a lot of the I would say a lot of burglary um was a big one at that time, and then just um because the time frame now is like we're talking about 18, 19, early 20, right?

DC Hanson: 28:45

Yeah. And so I know I know where their staffing is now and I know where their load is as far as like the case load. What was it like back then um as far as like how b how full was the cottages?

SPO Richard: 28:57

So when I first started, it was usually about 12, 13 kids in um maple cottage at the time. And that would be about average the boys' cottages, but so hickory. There's there was hickory, brown, and pine. And they primarily had like 15, 14 kids. Um it just influx, of course, it would depend on if you know pine was the intake cottage. So if they were busy, they would maybe have to move kids to brown or to hickory cottage and vice versa. But um I would say, yeah, that 12, 13, 14 is about the normal range. And then I did see up to 16 kids in Maple Cottage at one point. Um, and that's a that's a lot. So you have to have I think it was we had three staff on at night, you had to have at least two on during the day. And then uh they would have one on at night when they would be secure in their bedrooms. Um so they're not able to just leave their bedroom at the night or during the middle of the night, they'd have to have two people. People there for like bathroom breaks and stuff like that. Um but yeah, so 16 was a lot. That's a lot of a lot of girl energy. And then and a lot of uh, I mean, it's funny because it's all that they're still girls, they're still teenage girls. Like they still want to put their makeup on, they still wanna, you know, do that type of stuff. And um it was very humbling to get to do to to work with them and see like, oh, these kids just might not have had it good growing up, or these kids were in this space outside of here, and then inside of here, they're a totally different kid, or they're really thriving, um, especially with the structure and just the stability that YCC would bring to them. Um but yeah, it was very fun.

DC Hanson: 30:48

So I'm kind of curious on something because you're you're the kind of person I think that that likes to track some success stories, especially you do that in law enforcement. So I'm curious to know, is there anybody, um, was there anybody in your time that maybe you made an investment into, like mentorship wise, that you've that you you you know of now? Maybe you're not necessarily tracking them, but you just know of a success story that this person came in, they were fractured, they were broken, now all of a sudden like their their life seems to be on a really good path.

SPO Richard: 31:13

Um yeah, there's actually, I I do try to keep up just in general with a couple of them. Um and there's definitely uh, I would say at least three to four that um have really just kind of turned their life around or have noticed or realized like the bigger things in life than what they were dealing with at that time. Um, but no, there's definitely there was one that was there, uh, we would call her the goat, and I'll just leave it at that. And those that know will know. Uh she ate grasshoppers every now and then and pieces of paper and really whatever she wanted. So that's how she came in. I think she was 13 or 14 when she came in, and she was there uh generally you don't want you they didn't want kids there more than six months to a year. A year was like max. Um, she was there a little bit past that, um, and that's okay too. It just sometimes it takes kids a little bit longer. And so she came in and just the look of her, um, I mean, the way you present yourself and the way you take care of yourself hygienically and just doing your hair and your makeup every day, um, and the confidence boost that comes with that can also, I mean, just your mental health is really affected and it it looks outward as well too. So, anyways, she when I first met her, just I mean, she had this really long hair and um didn't really care if uh she straightened her hair or you know, looked nice or whatever for the day, and uh she would get into you know trouble and have to we'd call it D side or detention side. So she'd have to sit on to D-side quite often and um she'd act up and um it was more so looking for just wanting that attention, um, whether it be positive or negative, that was okay. She didn't care at the time. Um, but we went from somebody eating paper and trying to sneak in frogs to the building and stuff like that, um, to the end of it. She was uh she was doing, I mean, she looked like a totally different person because she would take care of herself, she would um make sure her hair was done nicely, she would ask others to help her with her makeup at there, which and the kids do get make makeup, it's like a privilege. It's not something guaranteed, but if they earned that, then they got to do that, of course. So um, but she she went from being we were having incidents with her almost every night, every week, every month at least, um, in serious incidents, to one of our absolute role model kids. Um, she was we didn't have to necessarily worry about her as much when it came behavior-wise. Um, she did what's called Sabisa, she went through that, which is kind of their ending, one of their ending treatments that they need to go through. And it's a pretty in-depth process, an intense process. You don't just graduate Sabisa and for not doing any of the work, you have to do quite a bit of work. Um but no, she uh gave gave it her all and um really came out a different kiddo and more confident kiddo, um, and then a kiddo that um realized she could trust adults um and whatnot. So I do try to keep up with her. Um, she's like any young adult that's gone through the things that she's gone through, she struggles every now and then. And um, there's definitely been some slip-ups, I know. And right now she's picking herself back up from that and um working on her sobriety. And so just for her to be able to realize that that sobriety is important and that she wants to get back to that, I think, is a lot. Um, and she's still a young adult. I mean, she's 21 years old and able to make that choice, um, that positive choice. And I think that is a testament to what she learned well at YCC.

DC Hanson: 35:07

You know, I I have to imagine a lot of those kids, that's this is their first amount of like real structure. So, like when when Kayla describes it um in a very female fashion that Kayla would where it talks about doing your hair and doing your makeup in the middle, it it brings me back to the the I'm gonna forget the name of the general, but his famous um Make your bed. Make your bed.

LT Hanel: 35:27

Yeah.

DC Hanson: 35:28

You know, if you start your day off with holding yourself accountable to a certain degree, um, you know, you really are setting yourself up for there is a real thing in that. And you know, whether it be how we hold our trainees to a standard, or a trainee if you come in, Kayla, and they got dirty boots, that's something that Kayla's gonna address and she's gonna say, you need to clean your boots because it matters. Like those little things, um, they really do matter. So that I I just think that that's those stories like that though, they're really good wins as far as like people to understand that in that juvenile world they really are salvageable, right? You know, and some of those offenses that you talked about. I mean, we're talking attempted murder, you're talking about aggravated assaults or terrorizing. I mean, those are the things that we typically see when we try to send a kid away is like we're talking typically violent, yes, major offenses. Um and it's and it's just it's it's cool to hear on the back end somebody that had seen it and seen it work and be successful.

SPO Richard: 36:21

Yes, yeah.

DC Hanson: 36:23

All right. We're done at YCC. We happen to be October of 2020. Yes. What happens then?

SPO Richard: 36:30

Well, then I get a phone call from Joe Cianni at the time who was captain. And uh I think I was it was during um, so it was kind of during that whole COVID stuff where uh we were on like a we didn't have any kids in the cottage at the time. It was going through some different structure changes and whatnot. And so I'm at the gym in my apartment working out, and we were had just been on like a meeting or Zoom call or whatever because we are having to stay home. And um I'm sitting there and I see a Dickinson number pop up, and I'm like, oh my goodness, I think this is gonna be either good or bad, I don't know. And so I am in this little gym in my apartment, standing there in my gym clothes, just sweating gross. He calls in, offers, does the job offer, and so I could not believe it. I was so excited. Um, I got done with it, the phone call. It was probably like two or three minutes worth of a phone call, and I just had to like pinch myself. Um, so so, anyways, yeah, started the whole process and came here. Luckily enough, I have family here, um, a lot of family here, and so I was able to stay with my uh dad and my stepmom for a little while here before I was able to get an apartment and some more stable housing, of course. But it was nice because I could live here and just move right in and um started, yeah, shift work.

DC Hanson: 37:59

I would drive in and so even though even though you came to us with both education and even experience in the career field, um you still went to the academy. Yes. Right? How was your academy experience?

SPO Richard: 38:11

It was good.

DC Hanson: 38:12

It was good, yeah.

SPO Richard: 38:14

No, it was fun. We um so I was lucky. I think it worked out super great this way. So I was here for about three or four months before I went to the academy. So I was able to have some real life experience that I was able to bring to the academy and apply to what they were teaching us, and I think that was invaluable because I could sit there and be like, oh yeah, this is similar to this call we went to, or this is why we did it at this call, or um, when we'd be talking about, you know, de-escalation and stuff like that. I was able to think of all of these different examples I had seen from my real life experience here at Dickinson PD while they're teaching it. So that was I felt like I almost had a little bit of like a one-up on those that weren't able to be on the road yet.

DC Hanson: 39:01

So You know, we that that seems to be a really common question, too, that we'll get. And I know Mikey's answered this. I've heard you on the phone answering it for people. I get texted and get answered on like a recruiting line, but people are just kind of confused that you can do something like that and and to kind of do it the Kayla path where maybe you don't have any experience, maybe you have no education in the field, you come into us, we'll start giving that to you, and then we wait for the next academy. To be honest with you, I think Mike and I would both agree that like the road that you said you liked is the route that we kind of prefer also. Absolutely. Um, the the th the 12 weeks or so, typically it's about that, that you could potentially get in-house here at Dickinson before going to the academy. We tend to find that the academy experience is better.

SPO Richard: 39:46

Yes.

DC Hanson: 39:47

Um, and a lot of it's probably something that you're talking about where you get to kind of take yourself back to those calls or you have a working knowledge already of century code and how to apply that to your job.

LT Hanel: 39:57

And um, and actually, and I'm trying to work back at all the episodes that we've done so far, and I don't know if we've ever had anybody that's uh actually outline what the academy experience is like and like what you all cover. So maybe you could be our guinea pig on that. And what what are those 11 weeks? What if if we send you after the academy, what's that all about?

SPO Richard: 40:16

Oh yeah, so I really enjoyed my time at the academy. Um, I that first couple weeks, it's just learning how to do your basic stuff. Like, I mean, and so we had talked about making your bed every morning. So you had to do hospital corners, which I did not know what that was. I was those that were in the military, the academy's a little bit easier for they're used to that a little bit more, they're more comfortable with it. Where we get there, and the first day we're learning how to do hospital corners on our beds by trooper, and um, and then we're learning how to do like about face and the correct I don't know, the walking and whatnot. Sure. The flag and which the flag folding and the raising and lowering of the flag, I think that's important to know, and it's a respectful thing to know too, and treating it as such, and then just how to shine your boots and making sure that you look appropriate and that you look put together, and because those small things matter, like we said. Um, and luckily I had a shift that made sure I looked put together and made sure to teach me how to look to put together, and um, they taught me before that how to shine my boots and how to, you know, what a gig line is, so your belt's in the right spot. And um yeah, just I went to the academy and I was like, oh, I know how to do some of this already. This is nice. Um, but yeah, those first couple weeks, you're just throwing a lot of information. Um, it's a lot of classroom time at first, which I don't mind necessarily. I think we it's real life experience or real life people coming in. Um and it's a lot of police officers, investigators, um, even some attorneys coming in. And it was really, I enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed learning um about stuff. I mean, there was so much to learn, um, especially when like BCI, BCI and those different agencies would come in. Um, and then we did the evoc, so emergency vehicle operation control course. There you go. Um, so we did that course, and so that's always a good time. That's usually like the best day is your evoc day. Um learning pepper spray or no, no, no, no, no. I'd rather be days 20 times. Over and over. But no, uh, so yeah, the the evoc was fun, of course. The rifle day was really fun. Um, it's a cool thing to go out and see. That's when the highway patrol had just uh kind of started building that um their new rifle range out in Bismarck or uh out of town there. So it was fun to work there and work with different officers from across the state. And then um the firearms is yeah, it's always a good time. But uh yeah, no OC spray was not my favorite. That um I'm good for the rest of my life if I never spray. Um and yeah, I it so when they spray you, they spray you at the top of your forehead and then it drips down over your brow bone into your eyeballs. And if you are a girl and possibly enjoy doing like skincare and making sure that your skin is all nice and blah, blah, blah, um some of those skincare products might make the effect of the O spray OC spray worse. Oh no. So yeah, so so I was a hurting unit. And uh um I was so what you have to do is you get OC sprayed, and then they you have to pull your firearm out and tell the person, drop what you have to tell them what to do or get commands. So it's usually like drop your firearm, drop the hatchet, you know, whatever that is, and then um give them commands to turn around, put your hands behind your back, and handcuff them all while you're in like massive amounts of pain in your face. Um and if you're not smart and wear a t-shirt like I did, and it drips down onto your arms, then your arms are gonna be spicy too. So I am trying to hold your you're in your trying to hold your eyes open, and I've got my firearm out, and I'm vent bent over, and I am pointing my firearm at firearm at them, and I'm telling them to drop it, and they're like, drop what? And I'm like, drops whatever whatever's in your right hand, because I couldn't get it out. And so it worked. We got it, arrested him or whatnot, and then you have to rinse it off, of course, and that's a whole other situation, trying to get it off your face because it doesn't just come off with water and I found the experience, everything they told me to do to get the burning to go away.

DC Hanson: 44:55

I found it all not to be working. So I didn't know if maybe this was like the second stage of the sick joke.

SPO Richard: 45:02

Well, and it's so it's now it was Danny Haugen that sprays people because he when he was in charge over at the LETA, the law enforcement training academy, um, so who's now Colonel. Colonel Haugen. Haugen. Um so he takes a lot of joy. Sick, sick joy.

DC Hanson: 45:17

I I would not be surprised to find out that Colonel Haugen still frees up his day to go and spray. It's the Marine. But you know, like so uh, you know, everybody always talks, well, why do you guys have to do this? Why would why would you do that? And our answer always is like, well, you know, so there's gonna come a day that you know this could possibly happen. Same thing for tasing you know there could become a day where this is gonna happen. I can sit here in front of you and attest at the man to my right while while I was trying to secure somebody after a foot chase, after a foot chase past the community center, and we're in the NDSU extension office. That was the second worst pepper spray experience I had post-academy. That one was not very fun.

LT Hanel: 45:55

I thought you were up wind!

DC Hanson: 45:57

So then somebody asked about tasing also, and I can attest that another sergeant in this department, no longer with us, but after another foot chase, uh accidentally tased his partner instead of tasing the individual. So I can t I can stand here and say, yes, there's a reason. There's a reason. There's a reason for it. There is definitely a reason for it.

SPO Richard: 46:15

Yep.

DC Hanson: 46:16

Um Well, how about this? When you when you went to the academy, I'm curious to know what was the female to male ratio?

SPO Richard: 46:25

Um it was we had me, Mariah, Caleb. So I think there was five of us females, I want to say. Um, and then 18 males?

DC Hanson: 46:37

Okay, so it was a smaller, you guys had a smaller academy.

SPO Richard: 46:39

Yeah, it wasn't huge. It wasn't big. We actually were in the smaller classroom too. Um and then the highway patrol was finishing up their trooper academy. Yeah.

DC Hanson: 46:47

So because when I had looked at it, and you know, we had um we had Jenna Claussen on here um uh a couple of months ago, and she had talked a lot about her experience, you know, as a woman in law enforcement and kind of some of the some of the challenges that she's faced and things like that. And I'm guessing you know, when I look at what Dickinson's doing here, and we currently have eight females, um, sworn officers, and that's out of our 44 that we have right now, eight of them. And I that I that number is higher than the national average, higher than the state average. And uh I just kind of what what is um what do you think? What skill sets do do you think that the female brings maybe that sometimes get lost or could sometimes get um we even maybe don't even don't even hold them to the same I don't know standard as far as like value, if you get where I'm trying to track you?

SPO Richard: 47:40

Yeah, so I would say the way the female brain works is I mean, it's just different. The way we process information, sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes it's a bad thing. Um, but it when you have a female and a male on a call, especially domestic violence calls or calls with juveniles, um it could be any type of call, really, the way that we are able to think of a situation, process it, and then apply how we think it could be handled or how um we could interact with someone might be different than the male's a male's brain way of thinking about it. So and inherently we are more likely to be okay with showing empathy and sympathy for people. And um sometimes I think too the way just our presence can really be calming for some people, sometimes it can be the other the other way around. Um but I think between that and then just when we have, especially when we have new uh new recruits that are male and even younger, I would say, when they are able to see females, especially um females who have been here for a while, see that we hold value and that the department in turn hires the amount of women that we do, um, and that the department values us as women. I think that helps the new hires see just the quality side of things. So when they respond to a call, they might, I don't know if it's just a way that they act differently with women sometimes, but it all envelopes together and that I think just the way that our our mind works is so different. Like um, and sometimes we're all over the place, a lot of a lot of the times we're all over the place, but the critical thinking um aspect too can be just incredible, like with Detective Tiffany and Detective Oki. Um, the way that their minds work when it comes to the investigations is absolutely crazy and insane to me. Um and the way that they're able to uh deduce uh a case into and find the evidence that they find is and it's not necessarily a gender thing, but uh the way that their mind works, I think, assists in in that.

DC Hanson: 50:06

So I think you're on to something, and um you know, one thing I think with that I have recognized is you called it critical thinking, and you talked a little bit about empathy, and I would totally agree with those things. But the other piece I would talk about would be patience. You know, I I feel like I feel like um our female officers tend to have a little bit longer of a fuse and a little bit more um, you know, you call it empathy if you want to, but uh to where a male officer is almost like, all right, I'm gonna wrap this thing up, I'm gonna move on to the next the next thing. And um just that little bit of attention. I mean, I mentioned the the the Jay Claxton situation where she's just talking to somebody and just making that person's problem her problem and showing them that they care. Same thing when it comes to, you know, that's exactly what's happening when you're listening to CNT. And some of our best negotiators that we have, one of them here, are the people that are just you don't have an agenda. You're not necessarily trying to, you know, solve their problem right then and there. And I kind of feel like that's a little bit of what it's a stereotypical thing, but you know, sometimes guys are looking for like I'm looking for the fix, and if I can't find it, then we're gonna get solve this thing right now. Um negatives.

SPO Richard: 51:24

Negatives.

DC Hanson: 51:24

Um about negatives? What uh what um you know, and and I I I prepped this one with a with a question that I hopefully is you you're gonna walk us into, but I'm I'm looking to see if do you think that there's anything that a woman in law enforcement, do you feel like there's still this bit like you have to show you have to prove yourself, you have to show yourself. Even though you've earned the right, you have the exact same qualities and capabilities and trainings. Do you does do you still carry that?

SPO Richard: 51:50

Um I would say yes. I just from my experience here, so I've been here for five years, and I I do feel like more so even I would say your first like two years as which is as a new officer in general, you feel like you have to prove yourself. Um but I think it's looked upon as though we don't want to get into those scuffles or the fights here. We're not we're afraid of going hands-on or something like that. Um and we're afraid of like getting dirty or having to, you know, fifths to coast type of thing. And um I think that even to this day there'll be incidents that happen that people will be impressed that I or another female stepped in um during during a fight or during an incident where we are the smaller person of the however many. And um I do think I think just in general, it's I do think it's still a thing. It depends on your department and it depends on honestly where you live, I think too can be a big factor. Um luckily here though, we do have a lot of female officers here. Um when I started, it was not nearly as many, and it was exciting. It's been exciting to see that we're pretty consistently hiring females.

DC Hanson: 53:08

So you knew kind of I think you can feel where I was trying to take you on that one. And and I would I would probably agree with you. You know, there's still probably that that piece inside of policing to where you're it's easy to say that as an answer. Um and I think it goes back to patience, you know, like a female is going to exercise maybe a little bit more time and attention. And there's going to be certain situations maybe where you don't have those. Yes. And um your current assignment is you are stationed in the high school as our school resource officer. This year is not your first year, but this year is it's had some challenges to it. That that high school um redesign has created a lot of challenges just with the way that you know kids had to come into the school and like how things are how just how just how disruptive the school is in general with all of the construction going on. Um but you got a chance to prove anybody who maybe had that belief or had that thought, you had a chance to prove yourself, and I think you did it in spades. And I even got to walk into the um patrol room, and there was a patrol officer who happens to be like a former collegiate wrestler, and he was giving you giving you props, giving you kudos for how Kayla just without even a shred of hesitation jumped in and got involved into in my time, probably the worst fight that I had seen inside of the the walls of the high school. And just kind of walk us through that that interaction or that that day for you.

SPO Richard: 54:48

Um yeah, so I think that comes with too, I am very protective of people, and I think that's a really important skill that we have that we don't realize all the time uh about us as law enforcement and as first responders. And so and to piggyback off of that too, I also really enjoy, and I learned this from YCC, I really enjoy developing rapport with the kids that maybe have a not so awesome experience with law enforcement, or maybe don't have a super great home life, or um, I know that just maybe need a little extra attention, a little extra positivity in their day. And so I knew um I had really good rapport with a lot of those kids. Um, so much so that I was more so disappointed in them than mad at them for the incident itself.

DC Hanson: 55:39

But isn't that a dad phrase for you?

SPO Richard: 55:42

I really I was I told them too. I told them all. I was very disappointed. Um and no one, and I think that because of the the relationship that I had with all of the kids pretty much. I mean, I knew I had a good rapport with all of them for the most part. I mean, one of them um her and I struggled relationship-wise, but um we were getting there. It's kind of like cracking that outer shell to get, you know, get into the good stuff. And so her and I kind of were trying to rekindle this, you know, positive relationship throughout the beginning of the school year. And um, same with one of the other juveniles, he had not been at this school prior, and so I just wanted to be there and say, you know, hey, this is maybe how you have dealt with law enforcement in the past, it's gonna be different here at the school, hopefully. Um, and it'll be in a positive way, not so much a response way. Um, but anyways, so with that, when the incident did happen, um I was somewhat able to control some of the situation because I knew them so well, um in a to an extent. But um when I was walking out with one of the individuals, they told me that this would be, I guess, one of those female things too. I wonder if I was like a big buff guy, if they would have said this to me. But I was escorting the individual out and um they said, I'm stronger than you and I'm faster than you, but I'm trying to be respectful right now. But it's just like I was exhausted at that point, and I'm like, of all times, but but I was it was a sad, bittersweet, I guess you could say. Like I'm glad that you were able to recognize within yourself as a juvenile and as a kid that just went through what he had gone through, um that you were actively trying to be respectful to law enforcement in that moment. Um and so that was it was more fulfilling than it you would think it would have been, I guess.

DC Hanson: 57:51

So we when you talked a little bit about your relationships that you had with these um these juveniles, you and I talked the next day, I want to say, maybe the day after, and you had told me that you knew something was gonna happen and you had put yourself in a position um not necessarily it's impossible to stop something like like like what we saw from taking place, but because of your intuition and what you had already kind of foreseen to take place, you were basically immediately on top of the situation and trying to resolve it. And I think that goes to again police intuition and just the relationships that you're able to build. Yeah. So I do think that there was a lot of credit that should be given into that that that sometimes could, you know, could just go by the wayside. Well, she was there doing her job. Well, yes, but at the same time, you know, without you knowing those players and kind of having an idea of like where that thing was percolating at, I think it it potentially would have been messier.

SPO Richard: 58:47

Yeah.

DC Hanson: 58:48

So I got a question for you. Um since that incident, how has your rapport been amongst the uh the students at the high school? Has it changed at all, altered?

SPO Richard: 59:00

Um it directly so the next day, uh I was worried that they were gonna think I because of course the rumor mill starts and Officer Richard was body slammed, and I wasn't like, I was not body slammed, but um, and then I'm thinking, you know, it's probably gonna be like other than the rumors of what happened, it's just gonna be business as usual. Um, I think I had 10 or so kids, maybe more, come up and say that they were glad I was okay and that they asked if I was, or they asked if I was okay, or they were like, oh my gosh, I can't believe you're here today. Um and I said, Well, of course it's just you know, gotta be here. Someone's gotta be here. And um, and so that was a really cool thing to see, I guess, just directly after and those next couple days after um was the kids just coming up to me, even kids I didn't really know that well, um, would come up to me and say that they were glad I was okay, or they would come up and give me a hug. And honestly, one of the Involvees, I guess, not directly, but was there. Um she came up and and she could have been mad at me for you know uh citing who I did and whatever. And um, but she came up and gave me a hug. And so I was really impressed and touched by that, I think, more than anything. Um but I would say a lot of and we had of course we have hearings and whatnot afterwards as far as the school side of things go, and so I saw the majority of those kids afterwards. Um and the I I did get some apologies and uh some I didn't, and that's okay. Um but I would say overall, the general feeling, I guess, towards myself or that I feel when I'm there is that they realize I'm going to keep them protected or I'm gonna keep them safe. Um and they know that I'm gonna show up and not just leave because something crappy happened one day. Um, which I think comes back to YCC is because I'm a solid figure and I'm a stable figure and I provide that stability and feeling of being safe. Um and and so when they were able to see that those next couple days, um, and that I continued, you know, we're pushing on, we're still gonna be here. Same with the you know administration and whatnot. Um, I I hope, anyways, that they were able to feel some comfort in that, I guess. Um, and be yeah.

LT Hanel: 1:01:36

I think that's a big takeaway for um for parents that have kids in the school system for for for two things. Uh first and foremost, that you know, we have kids in our in our school system now that that are uh understanding that level of empathy for others and even even adults and stuff like that. I don't know, when I was growing up, if my cohort was would would probably have had that level of maturity or that level of recognition, and so much so that yesterday when we were uh me and uh Jarrett were shooting the video for the um uh the the the middle school uh stuff, all the kids that were coming up to them and just the level of rapport that that our entire SRO staff has been investing into our school district, it's paying off dividends and and you can see just the level of maturity and and the kindness that are exhibited exhibited. So, you know, for those parents out there that are just getting their uh information from that you know the dumpster fire that is um What's Up Dickinson um about what's going on in the schools and you know how chaotic it is. I I don't know, I I I I see a different picture of our youth, um, uh the level of maturity of our youth in our in our school system. Uh so that's number one. And and the and the the second part is just that that investment part that you guys have been doing and investing in the youth. Um the parents should feel comfortable and and and uh knowing that they're sending their kids off to school and that they're they're being looked after very well by our school system and our SRO staff.

DC Hanson: 1:02:52

Yeah, yeah, that's and you just you literally took the words from me. That's it, that's what I was gonna say is that that rapport and that what what Kayla has at the end of their time, um it didn't just start. You know what I mean? Like I think we do such a good job when when Kayla would talk about her partner SROs between Jarrett and the foundation that he builds with those kids at the middle school, and then go earlier. And now you think about what uh Abby's doing in the elementary schools, the the teaching at the CTE building, like it's a real phenomenon that's going on where, yeah, growing up, I I didn't possess any of those skills, but it's just like understanding um ultimately we're all humans, and and I think that's what we've we try to portray that, you know. As it we we we continue to try to put the human behind the badge. Yeah, and I think our SROs do such a good job of that. And you know, we had that conversation uh amongst administrators after your um fight situation where we were talking about that, and we're like, well, you know, do we make any kind of policy changes, do we do anything? And ultimately, I think Mike and I were the the two in agreement that you know we we're hand selecting these individuals. Sure, there's some there's some amount of like they want to be in the SRO world, but the other piece is it's somebody who it really has an appetite to do exactly what's being done right now, which is being a mentor. Um you may not even think of yourself as a as a mentor when it's coming to these things, but like that ultimately is what's happening is you're providing that stable figure, you're providing it. And yeah, the school system, I think they do a fantastic job doing that too. You know, like our partnerships that we have with the Dickinson Public Schools. Um, I don't know that I could say it's ever been stronger than than where we are right now, currently this year, with the with the administration, between the working staff, and between kind of what our SROs bring to the into the public schools. Um go through this. I'm curious to know. Give me so far in the past five years, because we just hit five years last month, give me what is the career highlight moment so far in this first chunk of a handful of years? What would what does Kayla, if you think about it and you reflect back, what is this moment that you're like, you know what? I know I'm doing the right thing because I had you know X to go back to and to kind of realign me into why I'm doing this.

SPO Richard: 1:05:17

Ooh. So there's just been so many. Um but no, uh I I'm trying to think of like a specific one. Um because and I think too, like with being in law enforcement and being on patrol, especially, those years like fly by when you're on patrol. Um and you almost have to remind yourself of why you do it sometimes. But um I would say there was an incident um that occurred, this is when I was on patrol still, um, where we had it was just a super busy night. We had a very serious incident with a gentleman trying to strike his uh the mother of his kids um in a parking lot, and the two little, little, little kids were in the backseat of the vehicle, um, and he was under the influence or whatever have you, and we got into a short pursuit with him. Um end up arresting him after some tussling and whatnot. Um get the kiddos into a safe place, mind you, what like one's in a little baby carrier and one's a toddler. So, anyways, um we get done with that. Night's still young, it's we still got a lot of a lot of time left in the game. And from there I get a call uh to go to a gas station where there were some kiddos, uh, two little girls, and their mom, um, and they're not from around here, so they were just stopping for gas at this gas station. Um, and they were with the mom's significant other at the time. Um, and they were from Arkansas or somewhere down south. Um, and they had been driving for some time, and behaviors were escalating, and some concerning stuff was uh starting to happen and escalate, and the mom started getting worried about her safety and the safety of her children. Um, so she walked into the gas station with the kids and said to the gas station attendant that she needed help and that she was afraid to leave with the person that she was with. Um so the gas station attendant who did a phenomenal job and I think as a as a hero herself, um had and just the foresight and the thought behind this was incredible. Um, she took the mom and two daughters, put them in like a back closet that she can lock, and locked them in there and um called police. And so because I don't and the the mom didn't have a phone and um just it was and like I said, not from around here and had no one, of course, that they would have known or anything. So just a perfect storm. Um, but this gas station intendant called law enforcement and said, we need to get somebody over here right now. This is what's going on, and I show up. And so anytime you go into a situation like that where there's probably some domestic issues and whatnot going on, um, you get a little, you know, a little not nervous, but you're more situationally aware, you're more aware of what you're going into, um, and that it could amp up at any time. And so, anyways, we um I'm able to get there, talk to the kids and to the mom, and we come up with a plan um to get them to safety. And while the while they are in back in that little area of the gas station, um, the gentleman is of course looking for them, and I, you know, say, nope, we just you you're able to leave, but they're gonna stay here for the night. Um, but you can you can drive on where you need to. Um, and so eventually after some time he left and I was able to get them, uh, the mom and the two little girls to a safe place. And the two little girls, while I was walking out, I think I was holding, I don't know if we were holding hands or what, the and they were just little little, but um I get them in my car, and they're the one little girl's just like, I want to be a police officer when I grow up. And I'm like, I don't know, man. It's been a night girl, but no. So so uh yeah, uh long story short, get them to the safe place, get them help, um, get them somewhere warm to stay and and whatnot, and in communication and relationship with somebody or somewhere that is able to help them out, not just that night, but getting back to Arkansas basically. Um so, anyways, uh I think after that I had an adrenaline dump and I also realized when I went home that um I was able to help the two little girls and this mom who had no one else at that time that they knew about, and I was able to protect them, and I think that was just a super fulfilling, rewarding moment that and I still think about those girls and I remember their names, and um, so yeah, I think that was one of definitely one of those moments. There's been quite a few, I would say.

DC Hanson: 1:10:18

You know, I think what what makes that story special is as you're sitting there and you're listening to it, kind of similar to the story that brought you into law enforcement. It's just like you know, maybe you're waiting for like, oh, and then this guy attacks Kayla, and then Kayla comes to the rescue or something along those lines. But it's just it's just taking a moment to just understand what your mission is. And you came into this career field with a mission to do right by Officer Sass. I mean, there you go. I remember it's obviously the end. You know, and it's just and it's just understanding that um that little bit of time that you can take and just making an impact on. And uh yeah, I just think you know, kudos to you, Kayla. You've been you've been doing such a good job for us. Um I absolutely believe that we have you in the right position right now. I mean, the relationships that you're that you know what you're doing um inside of our high school has just been fantastic. I loved uh you know hearing some of the feedback that you had for improvements when it comes to like school safety. You know, that that really shows it really shows to me this is somebody who takes this career field seriously. Not necessarily somebody who's just coming to work and you know, sure it could be a job, you're putting your 40 hours, whatever, in a week, and then you're going home. But it's somebody who's making an investment into this is beyond that. This is a profession. And if I'm gonna be a professional in this profession, I'm gonna take things seriously. And you might not always get your way when it comes to you know whatever you're recommending or wherever you're doing things. Um but no, I just wanted to echo that and say that uh, like I said, you I think you're doing a fantastic job.

SPO Richard: 1:11:55

Thanks. Appreciate it.

LT Hanel: 1:11:56

If you were to uh we're getting towards the end here, and I know that there's one question we always like saying for the end, but even before that one, it's kind of kind of a like one, because I'm hoping that we get a lot of uh likes and shares on your guys' Facebook SRO Facebook page to this particular podcast. So I'm hoping a lot of your uh uh students will will be tuning into this and listening to you here and all that stuff. So you have hopefully a big captive audience of them listening right now. So if you were to give them a piece of lifely advice, like look, this is this is the valedictorian speech at their their ceremony, what what would be of all your experiences that you've had in life so far, um what would you impart onto them for some life advice?

DC Hanson: 1:12:31

Do your hair and make up.

SPO Richard: 1:12:33

Yeah, make your bed. I don't make my bed. Um but no, I would say uh just understanding that whatever you're going through right now, um, especially that high school age kids, middle school age kids even, but um whenever it seems like something's maybe not going super great or you're not feeling that great about yourself or your you know, your work or your home life or whatever it is, um that there's always gonna be better days ahead. Um, and to make sure you remind yourself that there's gonna be better days and that this is maybe just a bump in the road, or maybe it's not even a bump in the road. Like eventually everything um works out the way that you want it to, and it for the most part, and if you make the correct choices in life, and starting in high school, which is I had to start making some better life choices in high school when I was younger, and um, because I had the ability to see that, and and I think too, I mean, I wanted to be a police officer 15, 16 years old. Um, so I had to tell myself, like, you need to make better life choices or you need to make responsible choices for yourself. Um being able to have that foresight and thought behind that, I think is part of the reason I am successful, I guess you want to say, um, and that I am where I'm at today. And then also just um yeah, if they if people think you can't do it, you can. Um, that's probably my favorite part too about um being a female in law enforcement is sometimes not here, but at previous jobs I've been at, or even previous um people that I've known and whatnot and been friends with have said, oh, I can't see you being a police officer, um, anything like that, or um, I could see you being a meter maid, that was my favorite. I was like, okay, well. Um, but I think just knowing that if you want to do it, you can do it. Um as long as you put your mind to it, I think you can do pretty much anything you want to do. And sometimes you have to remind yourself of that day two of the academy because you're running in zero-degree weather. Um, you're asking yourself why you're doing this at five in the morning. But no, uh just yeah, sticking to your goals and knowing that everything will work out if you continue setting those goals for yourself and holding yourself accountable.

DC Hanson: 1:15:03

Yeah, I liked, I I really liked um you know her message when it came to having some foresight and you know just having a having a plan put in place for you. I think um I think that there's so many, you know, young kids that they lack that. They lack um, you know, maybe they don't even know what they're doing later in that day, but like you know, you you you'll see the kids that it's different in them when they have true sense of purpose and they're really directed towards those things. And it's easy for us to, you know, we can highlight whether it be um you know kids in the CTE building that like they're they're really driven towards this is their goal, this is their end game, or you look at athletes, for example, but there's so many kids where it's just like you know, the difference and the beauty of what DPS does here, where it's you're almost cultivating the young brains early into whatever career field that they ultimately want to go into. And I just think that um so much good is happening with that as far as like steering them into the right direction early on. Well, Kayla, it was great having you. We do have one more section um of stuff we're gonna have you answer.

SPO Richard: 1:16:08

Oh boy.

DC Hanson: 1:16:08

And uh but yeah, kudos to you, Kayla. Congratulations um on the five years of service last month. Thank you. And without further ado, jump into some speed cuffing here.

LT Hanel: 1:16:20

There we go. So it's gonna be you know what it's all about? So it's gonna be 30 seconds, right? 30 seconds when the music starts. We're just gonna be uh asking you some random question, maybe some trivia intermixed in there. Just give it a as best guess as you can. If you if you can't come up with anything, just hit just say pass and we'll we'll see how you do. Okay. Are you ready?

SPO Richard: 1:16:37

Yeah, there we go.

DC Hanson: 1:16:38

What's the best restaurant in Dickinson?

SPO Richard: 1:16:40

Ooh, Grub Tub.

DC Hanson: 1:16:42

Favorite professional sports team?

SPO Richard: 1:16:44

Broncos.

DC Hanson: 1:16:45

What are the three cottages at YCC called?

SPO Richard: 1:16:47

Maple, brown, hickory, pine.

DC Hanson: 1:16:50

What Gen Z term is used to emphasize being honest?

SPO Richard: 1:16:55

Cap.

DC Hanson: 1:16:56

There you go. What is the officer's name from the uh Hangover movie that lets Alan taze him?

SPO Richard: 1:17:03

I don't know.

DC Hanson: 1:17:05

Officer Franklin. How about this one? Who was the DHS track coach from 85 to 2003 who racked up multiple state titles? Do you know that one by chance? It's a tough one. Like he threw a curveball in there. That'd be a Jack Carlson.

LT Hanel: 1:17:19

Oh, yeah. It's up on the wall there somewhere.

DC Hanson: 1:17:23

Well, Kayla, thanks for coming on. Thank you for taking some time on this Friday afternoon to come and do this for us. So this is good.

LT Hanel: 1:17:30

You make us proud.

SPO Richard: 1:17:30

Thank you for doing for having me. Thank you.