When people see someone working in law enforcement, emergency services, catastrophe response, or investigation, it’s easy to assume that person is made of steel. That stress, tragedy, and human suffering don’t affect them the way they affect everyone else. But that’s not reality. It never has been. The work I’ve done across this country, EMS…

One of the questions I hear often is whether I can handle the budget that comes with the sheriff’s office. And I understand why people ask it. The budget is serious. It’s responsibility. It involves real tax dollars, real community needs, personnel, facilities, equipment, fleet expenses, safety measures, and long-term planning. So yes, a sheriff…

If there’s one thing that has guided me through every season of my life it’s this: I believe in being a servant. To me, service has never been a slogan or a political phrase. It’s something that has been lived out in my home, in my family, and in the hardest chapters of my life.…

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that accountability is not something a department should fear. Accountability, when practiced correctly, earns trust, strengthens relationships, and proves that the people in uniform are worthy of the responsibility they carry. That’s why I believe in transparency when it comes to law enforcement footage. We have patrol…

There’s a moment from my career that I bring up often, because I think it says everything that needs to be said about why law enforcement should work with the public not above them. It happened during a manhunt. This wasn’t a minor situation, it involved an individual who had been stealing property, acting violently,…

There’s a truth I’ve learned: The moment an agency starts operating above the people it serves, it loses the people it serves. I’ve watched that happen right here in Boone County. For several years now, I’ve seen the disconnect grow between our sheriff’s office and the public. The scanners went silent. Information became limited. People…

There’s a point in my life when I stopped assuming that silence meant nothing was wrong. I learned that silence often means everything is wrong you’re just not being told about it. Several years ago, I experienced firsthand what happens when communication breaks down between county offices and the people they serve. I had a…

In the middle of catastrophe work, when the pressure is relentless and the environment around you looks like a war zone, you learn a lot about who you are and what leadership really means. During the hail, tornado, and hurricane deployments that followed my early adjuster work, I eventually found myself overseeing large teams in…

There are two kinds of leadership in this world:Leadership in a controlled environment – where systems are stable, stress is predictable, and everything is running as designed and Leadership outside of a controlled environment – where the stakes are high, chaos is at your feet, and you’re forced to make decisions without the comfort of…

People sometimes ask me how I stayed calm during high-pressure investigations, catastrophe management, or major leadership decisions. The truth is: that calm was forged in one of the harshest seasons of my life. When I stepped into the insurance field, I didn’t enter it gradually. I went straight into one of the most overwhelming situations…