Mundo in the morning, 6 to 10 a.m. on KCMO. KCMO Talk Radio is backing the blue. Tour stop number 11 is live from the Johnson County Sheriff's Department. It's Mundo in the morning. All right, we have got Undersheriff Cindy Henson and Captain Dan Dirks joining us here on KCMO Talk Radio 95.7 FM. I'm always streaming at kcmotalkradio.com. Thank you both for being here this morning. We appreciate the time. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Well, I know you're both involved in World Cup and FIFA preparation, so we will get to that coming up. But first off, when it comes to just the patrol within Johnson County, I mean, we know how Johnson County's grown, but there still are a lot of, you know, what, 200 square miles that you've got to patrol with the Johnson County Sheriff's Department. What are some of the issues that you have seen pop up in Johnson County that might be new on the patrol front as of late? Recently, with the advent of the industrial parks popping up around the county, we do most certainly see an increase in vehicular traffic, specifically 18-wheelers and things like that. So that has increased our patrol efforts there in enforcement and making sure the roads are safe. How about you, Cindy, from a perspective of just like, you know, overlooking the entire department? How have you strategized differently with these 200 square miles that you guys have to patrol? One of the things that we're looking at is using the data to find out where our officers need to be, where the deputies should be patrolling to have a higher likelihood of catching people doing things they shouldn't be doing, and also reducing our response times to where the calls are being asked to or where the calls are at. I think for the most part, one of the things that I find unique about the patrol division in the sheriff's office is that it is a little bit of rule and a little bit of city. And each of them come with their unique challenges. and I think one of the things that people would like to know is that our deputies are extremely talented in knowing how to handle something that whether it be a rule issue with farm animals livestock out on the road or something that is more commonly known about burglaries and other kind of domestic violence type of cases. Well that's I mean you're right because there's really both extremes in terms of like urban crime you know on the interstate maybe and then also very rural things that you're dealing with when it comes to you know the i-35 corridor and we've talked to city officials and city law enforcement but obviously with the sheriff's department how much of that you know with i-35 right here drug trafficking human trafficking how much is is that part of what you've dealt with over the last few years it's a standard part of our patrolling efforts our interdiction efforts uh several major arteries here throughout the county of course i-35 435 us-169 us-69 so uh each of those arteries uh pass right through our patrol district so one of the duties that our deputies have is that regular patrolling of those arteries to make sure or try to interdict interdict such activity how much of that is you patrolling versus cities patrolling catching and then calling you in for backup It is almost 100 us patrolling Oh it is Okay We have our five designated patrol districts that we secure But also, while we have countywide jurisdiction, we have a specific assignment to these five districts. And like I say, 100% of that interdiction effort is our own. We do have specialized units within the agency that will work with cities separate from our own patrol division. Go ahead. I think what he's referencing is the directive patrol unit that I believe the sheriff may have mentioned earlier. We have a group of folks that are specifically working with cities to address high crime areas. Some of the trends that have been identified to try to reduce that and helping them overall keep our county safe. I think that when we look at what our patrol focus is, about 70% is through self-initiated activity. So that is that interdiction. That is making those car stops. That is contacting folks if they see somebody doing something suspicious or they're checking the welfare of somebody that might be stranded on the roads. and then they are doing their their investigation if you will on if there's anything that they need to further investigate. No that's great. Now on the crisis intervention team how does that team interact with the public on a regular basis? so the crisis intervention team is a group of trained mental health folks who are available for officers and deputies who are dealing with a family member or somebody that is in crisis they can come in and they can help with the things that are not our specialty for example if you have somebody who is in crisis and they need to have hospital care, the crisis center, the CIT, the co-responders can help and get them into the hospital. Are those things that are done in addition to whatever the city police department does, or is this a unique team that gets called in from Johnson County by Overland Park, Alathe, whoever? No, it is a unique team within the sheriff's office, but the municipalities also have such teams as well. We work closely, as the undersheriff referenced, our co-responders, who are actually members of Johnson County Mental Health. They actually work right alongside us in our office, and they will come out to calls in those situations. The evolution of law enforcement is to find those resources that a person actually needs to do what's best for them. And the co-responders have been phenomenal in that respect. A lot of this is mental health-related calls and things of that nature? Is that what really is handled there? Correct. Okay. Now, are they joined by a deputy or are they trained where they can go out on their own? No. Whenever we make use of our co-responders, they work in conjunction with the deputies for their own safety. Okay. Just by the nature of the calls. We stay on scene the entire time while they're there and are with them as they go through their work that they need to do. Yeah. That's okay. Interesting. Now we are being joined by Undersheriff Cindy Henson, Captain Dan Dirks on KCMO, Johnson County Sheriff's Department. Let's talk about the World Cup preparations. Who wants to take it first? What has this been like for you? You know you both obviously have long careers but this has got to be unlike anything you prepared for in your career It a whirlwind We been planning for well over 18 months almost two years for this and it slowly progressing and starting to coalesce What's the hardest part of this preparation? The anticipation of what is actually going to take place as we receive information from FIFA KC and the world stage and what is going to take place. How would you answer that, Cindy? It's planning for the unknown. Yeah. And it is, as details come in, we get a little bit more information to help us with our plan. But we have a lot of anxious deputies who are wanting to know what will be expected of them, what will that 45-day window look for them. And we are anxious to be able to provide that information to them. But as we go along, that's probably the hardest part. It's just trying to plan for the unknown at this point. So I think about some of the roles, obviously, security at any event is going to be huge. But there's things like escorting dignitaries, right? I mean, who's, I don't know about driving Prince William, but who's escorting him to a game? I mean, things like that. Do you know what that's going to look like yet? Right now, we are coordinating with Kansas City, Missouri, and all of the local agencies. I think that's what makes Kansas City special is the fact that we have really good working relationships with all of the law enforcement agencies in the area. And so we are coordinating regional escort-type teams. KCMO is, we're working with KCMO. KCMO is actually the coordinator, but we're all helping them with that, providing them resources so that the teams can be escorted to and from their activities. Who's kind of coordinating the coordinators? Who's in charge? so i it my understanding that kansas missouri is the is the group that we are mostly coordinating with but i think mark has a huge role in this as well as well as kc2026 okay all right but from a law enforcement and law enforcement perspective you think it's kcpd right now that's kind of the top of the food chain everyone's working together with them on coordination with things specifically addressing the teams and what is happening in kansas missouri we also johnson county sheriff's office is leading and coordinating the Johnson County agencies on all things FIFA in Johnson County. Okay. So if there are various activities throughout, we have, I believe, 14 link bus stops in Johnson County that will allow visitors to go to different spots in Johnson County to visit. and we also have regional directs that will take you directly from the airport to FanFest and then we have game day directs all coming from Johnson County. So we're coordinating with all of the local agencies to ensure that those stops have appropriate personnel to ensure some safety of the travelers. What concerns you more? Is it safety at the big events like the games or is it having tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people in Johnson County spread out over three, four, five, six weeks. And, you know, they don't know the area. Some of them won't know the language. You know, do you have the Yahoo from England driving on the wrong side of the road? Like, what is it? Like, which one concerns you? Both are valid concerns. Of course we have the events taking place in Kansas City Missouri of course with the stadium and Fan Fest But then again here in johnson county we gonna uh we in coordination with johnson county parks and rec who are hosting 20 watch parties uh we also know that there going to be a base camp for one of the teams here in johnson county so we're working with our um counterparts in other county departments and also with the municipalities to address such issues and you got the hotels you have people who are going to be airbnbing what what concerns do you think those could bring up mainly it's going to be the large influx of people to the area. And as the undershirt referenced, they're already addressing the transportation issues. Each municipality is addressing needs within their own particular area, such as the staging areas where fans will be gathering to go to the matches in Kansas City, Missouri. So, thanks of that nature. And one of the other things is we're mindful of any kind of language. Yeah, you guys got your Rosetta Stones broken out? Yeah, we We actually will, we have purchased several handheld pocket talks that I don't, I think they have over 100 languages in those, in that handheld device. They do have their cell phones that also have some translations. And then our body-worn cameras will have a translation component as well. Is that right? The cameras are going to have translators on them? Yes. And so we will be able to have that as well. So we think we will be able to navigate some of the communication issues with those resources. And, you know, we are working with consulates to determine, you know, if any of our foreign visitors get into trouble, how we handle that. I was going to say, how do you get your money if someone's pulled over for a speeding ticket? That is what we are currently trying to figure out. Okay. Who answers? I mean, is that through the countries, the other countries? Those are conversations actually taking place between, say, the Johnson County District Attorney's Office, the local prosecutors and municipalities, and even across state lines with Jackson County and the other area, Wyandotte County. But, yes, if you have a foreign nationalist who is arrested and charged with a crime, there are certain countries that require notification to the consulate, and then you work with them. Yeah, because they might be looking at these speeding signs and they're thinking it's kilometers per hour and, you know, it's miles per hour, right? That could be a problem. One good thing is everybody's been very proactive about communicating with the consulates and also the groups, the fan groups from these nations. They've actually been coordinating and speaking with them. And I know there are already plans in place and itineraries are already being established. Can you confidently say that residents that rely on your services during that six-week stretch will not have any hiccup and any noticeable delay in their own services for taxpaying residents right now? Do you feel confident in that? I can say that we are focusing on what resources that we can provide for the FIFA events without compromising the day-to-day activities for our residents in the county. And that is not just for our perspective, but I know that for the city's perspectives as well. And I've got to imagine that's a balancing act that everyone's kind of dealing with right now. Correct. Right. Trying to figure out. Well, we appreciate you both being here. Thank you for your time on the show, and good luck these next few months. I know it's going to be crazy. Thank you very much. We've got Cindy Henson, the undersheriff of the Johnson County Sheriff's Department, and then Captain Dan Dirks with the patrol division here on KCMO.
