An Official Publication For the Kansas State Troopers Troopers Association State For theKansas Publication Official An VOLUME 31, NO. 4 WINTER 2013 KSTA MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS BENEFITS INTRODUCING THE NEW AUTO AND HOME INSURANCE PROGRAM EXCLUSIVELY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS LIKE YOU. “It’s a great feeling to have California Casualty looking out for me.” Nick C. Law Enforcement Officer Protected by California Casualty Get insurance designed for your profession and your life. 1-866-601-5097 www.CalCas.com/KSTA ® KANSAS STATE TROOPERS ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE BOARD President Mitch Mellick CONTENTS Vice President VOL. 31, NO. 4, WINTER 2013 Keith Scott Secretary Features Dale Patrick Below 100 ...................................................................12 Treasurer Merl Ney 28th Annual KTF Golf Tournament ........................17 Sergeant-At-Arms Troop G Troopers & Families Gather Together .....20 Lee Jantz Retiree Reunion Held in Wichita .............................21 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 17 Troop A KHP Ride Held in Colorado.....................................21 Curt Gabbert Troop B 2013 North American Inspector's Championship .....22 Bryan Clark Winter Weather Driving Reminders .......................25 Troop C Mario Rios Goat Milking: A Family Tradition? .........................27 Troop D CPSAW Kicked Off With Car Seat Donation ........28 Doug Carr 22 Troop E KTF Sponsors Run to Free 5K in Lawrence ..........29 Steven Sites Noble Cause Corruption: Do the Ends Justify the Troop F Means? .......................................................................30 Dave Golden Troop G 2013 IFTA/IRP Workshop ........................................31 Corey Davis KTF Spring 2013 Campaign Thank You ................39 25 Troop H James Irwin Departments Troop I President's Message .............................4 KHP News ............................................32 Steve Harvey Executive VP's Message ......................6 Business Directory ...............................35 Troop J Colonel’s Corner ..................................8 Advertisers’ Index ................................38 Joseph Ziegler Chaplain’s Message .............................10 Troop K Crystal Golightley On the Cover Troop MC A trooper works US Highway 59 in Douglas County in near white out David Bales conditions during a snowstorm last February. This particular storm shutdown much travel across the state, but troopers were there to assist motorists who RETIREES REPRESENTATIVE were on the roads. Don Dody Photo by Lieutenant Josh Kellerman, K-69 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Steve Kearney EDITOR The Kansas Trooper Mary Napier Published quarterly by the Kansas State Troopers Association 785-783-5494 1200 SW 10th Avenue • Topeka, KS 66604-1204 [email protected] 785-234-4488 • 1-800-550-5782 • Fax: 785-234-2433 © The Kansas Trooper All rights reserved. Photocopying, reproduction, or quotation strictly ADVERTISING OFFICE 1-855-330-9643 prohibited without the written consent from the editor or Editorial Board. Unsolicited material and/or correspondence cannot be acknowledged or returned, and becomes the property of the Kansas Trooper. Winter 2013 Kansas Trooper ı 3 President's Message Attitude: The Only Thing We Can Truly Change “The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it's usually lousy.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower Master Trooper Mitch Mellick, K-381 In the coming months, the Kansas Highway Patrol will have over 24 members retire. Many of these members have 28 or more years of service on the job, but yet President, Kansas State have not maxed out their retirement. While I wish these recent and soon to be retirees Troopers Association well, I have to wonder, what is prompting this earlier than usual retirement? With recruitment at an all time low, the KHP is facing critical issues. We hired 11 new troopers in the past year and only nine remain in the field. We as troopers have been asked to help foster more recruitment and when I suggested to the management that this is difficult due to low morale, the response was that morale was a personal issue that needs to be overcome by the individual not the agency. We individually need to correct morale that is affected by actions of the agency we work for, yet we are asked by that same agency to recruit new members. Members whose success Morale is not will not be supported by their agency and whose minor mistakes will be magnified into larger issues. Members who will make more money working for a city agency something that is with less responsibilities. We are facing difficult times ahead and ignoring it will not make it less so. changed just by “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” saying it must be so. ~ Mahatma Gandhi Morale is not something that is changed just by saying it must be so. It is changed by a difference in action, and often that must come from within. However, it must be nurtured by fairness. How can there be good morale when there is disparity between how rules are interpreted? How can good attitudes survive, despite the best individual intentions, when those who are in a position to guide us, reprimand us gleefully at every turn; often turning a blind eye to any of their own missteps? I will be honest, my morale is down and I have worked hard to individually change Mitch can be reached at it. But I will not give up. I will keep working to improve relationships where I can, [email protected]. and I will continue to support those who haven’t given up and continue to point out 4 ı Kansas Trooper Winter 2013 President'sMessage unjustness because I believe in this agency and its mission may put even more of a target on my back than there already to the citizens of Kansas. I will remain professional, but has been, but something must change and my attempts to not cower when confronted. I will continue to perform my change things collegially have been ignored and followed duties to the best of my abilities as I have been trained to by veiled retaliations. do. Our attitude is truly the only thing we have complete Also, the entire KSTA and I will support those who control over and only each individual can decide to change continue to believe in the underlying mission of this agency it. However, attitudes are not shaped in a vacuum so I want and have the courage to join me. I am well aware that this to leave you with a challenge from Apple, Inc... “Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” Mitch MISSION STATEMENT: To be the safest, most customer focused and successful motor carrier in our class. www.nationalcarriers.com www.drivenci.com twitter.com/NationalCI Pinterest.com/nationalcarrier Foursquare.com/nationalci Facebook.com/nationalcarriersinc YouTube.com/nationalcarriers NCI Hotline 800 835 2097 x 1112 Winter 2013 Kansas Trooper ı 5 Executive VP’s Message Is Anybody Out There? com·mu·ni·cate verb : to give information about (something) to someone by speaking, writing, moving your hands, etc. : to get someone to understand your thoughts or feelings Steve Kearney, KSTA Executive Vice Many of us forget that communicate is a verb. It requires an action for it to be effective. None of us can assume that just because we know something that the President & Lobbyist other affected parties also know. Unless the loop is closed on information, then the communicator cannot rest assured it had the desired result. Perhaps the information was given, but the recipient did not fully understand the thoughts or feelings. Perhaps it was never received. How many of us have hit the send button, received no feedback and wondered, is anybody out there? As a membership organization, the Kansas State Troopers Association transmits a great deal of information to its membership throughout the year from weekly legislative reports while the legislature is in session, through periodic news blasts on meetings and other items of interest, through this magazine and via the KSTA website. Like Watch for short any organization, the information flows out “to give information about (something) to someone,” but rarely is there feedback from the recipients. surveys from In my judgment, the simple flow of information without any real idea whether “someone understands the thoughts or feelings” it is intended to convey, is often just KSTA to a waste of paper or oxygen. Member organization’s leadership often believe their communications have a clear message and that they are meeting the needs of the find out what members. This belief is most often based on the information that leadership is receiving from is working or a very few members and each other. In other words, most organizations govern based on their own experiences with limited feedback. The only information received from members in that type of environment is from those few who have a complaint and take not working the time to voice it. Not the best way to run a railroad, my father would have said. To keep the KSTA from falling into that trap, there are several action items both for you. Please leadership and membership need to undertake. Closing the loop on information is critical. Are you as members even getting the information? If so, is it meaningful and take action and on the right track? If you are receiving it, please let us know periodically that you did. Most importantly, if you did get it, did you find it helpful or if it wasn’t, what could be respond.