Pictured, from left, are Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris McKeand, Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith, and Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Merit Board Member Dana Leon. InkFreeNews photo by Liz Shepherd.

By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — During a March 14 meeting, the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Merit Board heard about a trip Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office representatives took to Wabash County.

Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith said he, KCSO Chief Deputy Chris McKeand, Kosciusko Superior Court One Judge Karin McGrath and Merit Board Member Tony Garza visited Wabash County’s re-entry court on March 8. Currently, Kosciusko County’s probation department is seeking grants to potentially establish a re-entry court in the county.

The court helps people acclimate back to society while aiming to decrease recidivism.

“I really enjoyed watching about two hours’ worth of the proceedings,” said Smith. “Judge (Ben) Vanderpool, who oversees (the program in Wabash County), he is one of them. He sits at the table with them, his team is around, they bring each participant up, and they have a conversation. ‘Give us an update on where you’re at. How’s things going. You have a job?’ Things like that. On several different accounts, people were getting up and thanking the judge and his team for believing in them and giving them this opportunity to be successful. I was very inspired when we left there and I hope we can do something very similar here.”

Tied into that, Smith said KCSO is waiting to hear back from the K21 Health Foundation on a grant for the Community Recovery Program in the Kosciusko County Jail. If KCSO receives the grant, a resource navigator for the program can be hired. KCCRP will help jail inmates acclimate back into society and assist them with their mental health and substance abuse needs.

McKeand said KCSO will be going before the county council on Thursday evening, March 14, to present information on KCCRP.

“A lot of people have the misconception that these alternative court programs are easy for the defendants, that they’re soft on crime,” said Garza. “That’s not the case at all. Having these individuals come up and realizing what they have to go through … they have to go to so many meetings, they have to go to counseling, they have to find jobs, go to work … It’s really another level of accountability that keeps them on track. In the long run, you end up with someone coming out of the jail with the tools to know how to budget, how to get a job, how to get to work.”

Garza recalled the group going out for lunch shortly after court ended and bumping into a client he served as a public defender. The client had recently been released from prison and admitted into Wabash County’s re-entry program.

“The participants are at the end of the table and it’s a very positive, friendly conversation,” said Garza. “(The defendants) are grateful to this group as support, as friends.”

Smith also informed the board he was contacted by Elkhart County Sheriff Jeff Siegel about a four-year-old Belgian Malinois whose handler got promoted to the detective bureau. Siegel gifted the K9 to KCSO, with the K9 being given to KCSO Deputy Elizabeth Johnson.

“Her and the dog are getting to know each other,” said Smith. “They’re training all the time, and it is going very well.”

This new addition brings KCSO to five K9 officers.

The board also:

• Learned Detective Sgt. Brian Nault will graduate from polygraph school on Friday, March 15.
• Heard from Senior Detective Sgt. Josh Spangle that felony crimes are beginning to increase as the weather gets warmer.
• Heard from Public Information Officer Sgt. Doug Light that KCSO responded to 1,669 calls for service in February.

The board’s next meeting is on April 11.