State of the Agency Lecture Series: Bryan Tuma, Exec. Director of the Nebraska Crime Commission

Mike Kamm Author

02/11/2025 Added

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The State of the Agency Lecture Series with guest speaker Bryan Tuma, Exec. Director of the Nebraska Crime Commission. Recorded February 11, 2025

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[00:00:00.000]Our guest today is Brian Tuma. He is the Executive Director of the Nebraska State Crime Commission, a position he has held since June of 2023.
[00:00:13.920]Mr. Tuma served in the Nebraska State Patrol for 32 years, and he was the superintendent, he was the head of the Nebraska State Patrol for more than six years.
[00:00:26.000]He served as the Director of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, what we call FEMA, but NEMA, Nebraska, for seven years.
[00:00:34.200]Served for a couple years as the Safety and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, and he's a graduate of our program.
[00:00:45.260]Graduating, I won't say when.
[00:00:48.260]1977.
[00:00:50.360]1977. I think that was in the last century.
[00:00:53.200]Yeah, previous millennial.
[00:00:55.920]This is obviously an individual with tremendous, tremendous amount of experience.
[00:01:04.360]I'm sad there's not more here today, but you are here today, and I suggest that we listen very carefully to what he has to share with us today.
[00:01:12.560]Mr. Tuma.
[00:01:14.200]Thank you, Dr. Eskridge.
[00:01:15.460]First of all, I want to thank Chris for the opportunity to be here and visit with you folks.
[00:01:21.180]So a little bit about my background.
[00:01:24.620]So I was a student here at UNL from 1973 to 77.
[00:01:30.700]That was kind of the early years of the criminal justice program.
[00:01:34.020]You know, the affiliation with UNO, that was in place.
[00:01:38.460]But I attended all my classes here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:01:41.920]Tremendous program.
[00:01:44.700]So, you know, I sat in seats you occupy right now.
[00:01:50.180]So, you know, I've been there.
[00:01:53.320]So here are some things I thought I'd talk to you about today.
[00:01:56.440]One is, you know, some career and opportunities
[00:01:59.640]and just give you some things to think about there.
[00:02:02.420]And then I want to discuss the Crime Commission.
[00:02:05.380]So our actual name for our agency is the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement
[00:02:09.800]and Criminal Justice.
[00:02:11.000]We call it the Crime Commission because it's a lot easier to say that in one sentence.
[00:02:16.440]So, and I thought I would try to demonstrate to you the wide range of issues that we're
[00:02:23.180]dealing with across the criminal justice spectrum.
[00:02:25.580]And I am more than happy if you have questions about any particular issues that you're dealing
[00:02:33.080]or you're studying.
[00:02:34.480]Right now, I can kind of give you maybe a snapshot of what's occurring in our state
[00:02:41.120]and maybe on the national level and be more than happy to do that.
[00:02:45.800]So, I prefer not to just stand up here and talk to you.
[00:02:51.580]So, if we can...
[00:02:53.040]Maybe have some questions.
[00:02:54.400]And if something I say maybe triggers a thought, please, we'll come back to it.
[00:02:58.300]And I'll be more than willing to engage in a discussion with you.
[00:03:02.400]So, let's talk about career and opportunity.
[00:03:06.020]So, as I said, you know, at one point, I was sitting out there where you folks are.
[00:03:09.180]You're contemplating what does life look like in terms of your career once you leave the university.
[00:03:14.780]Are you going to continue your education or are you going
[00:03:17.280]to start trying to find employment opportunities?
[00:03:22.900]For me, I thought initially about going into the military and then transitioning maybe
[00:03:30.020]into a federal agency at some point after military service.
[00:03:36.020]That plan didn't work out.
[00:03:38.300]So I really felt a strong connection to Nebraska.
[00:03:44.360]I grew up here, my parents were here, grandparents, several generations.
[00:03:51.760]I
[00:03:52.760]finally came to the final decision, I did not want to leave the state.
[00:03:56.840]So I was going to try to focus on opportunities here.
[00:04:02.140]I started out as a juvenile probation officer for the state of Nebraska.
[00:04:07.720]We went through a bit of transition.
[00:04:09.720]I was initially working for the county courts and then the state took over all the probation
[00:04:14.260]functions and so I spent about 18 months after I graduated doing probation work.
[00:04:20.040]Learned a lot.
[00:04:21.040]It was great experience.
[00:04:22.620]And then I applied for the state patrol, got accepted, and I did those things that all
[00:04:29.080]troopers do.
[00:04:30.960]Your first few years, you're actually learning how to function as a police officer or law
[00:04:37.080]enforcement officer.
[00:04:38.560]I did some undercover drug investigation work at one point and then transitioned back into
[00:04:44.580]the patrol activities.
[00:04:46.560]Went on and my first promotion was back here in Lincoln.
[00:04:52.480]I was assigned to the training academy.
[00:04:55.600]So our role and responsibility was to recruit and do the application process for all new
[00:05:01.880]troopers.
[00:05:03.740]In addition, we did the basic law enforcement certification training for those folks and
[00:05:10.040]then we did annual in-service training and professional development programming as well.
[00:05:15.100]Eventually I got promoted.
[00:05:17.820]I was the director of our training academy for a number of years.
[00:05:22.340]I saw a lot of changes, was engaged on the national level on a number of law enforcement
[00:05:30.060]training initiatives, programming.
[00:05:32.280]It was a great experience.
[00:05:35.900]So eventually a couple more promotions, I ended up back in Lincoln and I was going to
[00:05:40.920]retire in 2005.
[00:05:44.380]I had worked extensively with the Department of Transportation on a lot of transportation
[00:05:50.660]safety issues.
[00:05:52.200]And they actually were creating a position for me to go to work for them.
[00:05:57.340]And the fateful day, May 1st, ironically, or no, excuse me, April 1st, April Fool's
[00:06:04.900]Day, I'm sitting at home and Governor Heinemann calls me and he goes, "Hey, I'm going to make
[00:06:10.400]a change and I want you to be the superintendent."
[00:06:12.800]I go, "Governor, I'm going to retire like in a month."
[00:06:16.060]He goes, "You'll come talk to me, won't you?"
[00:06:18.460]So long story short.
[00:06:22.060]I stayed six and a half more years after that.
[00:06:25.120]So I left in, I retired from the patrol in 2011.
[00:06:30.200]So I'm dating myself here.
[00:06:32.360]I start going over my employment history.
[00:06:35.400]But I went to work in the private sector and I really enjoyed that time.
[00:06:40.500]And then I was asked to come back to state government,
[00:06:43.640]run the State Emergency Management Agency for seven and a half years.
[00:06:47.580]I thought it was time to retire once more.
[00:06:50.760]That was about
[00:06:51.920]18 months I was off.
[00:06:53.560]I did some contract work on the side, those sorts of things.
[00:06:56.760]And then Governor Pillen called me and asked me if I would become the executive
[00:07:01.880]director for the Crime Commission.
[00:07:03.200]I will admit, I walked into a bit of a challenging situation.
[00:07:09.320]But we have, I think, worked through a lot of issues.
[00:07:14.120]I think we are functioning as we're supposed to now.
[00:07:18.200]And I feel very good about
[00:07:21.780]the way that the staff has engaged on a lot of issues, tough issues.
[00:07:26.600]Required us to really think through some things, look at how we do processes,
[00:07:32.000]how we take care of our customer base, which are typically law enforcement and
[00:07:35.960]criminal justice stakeholders, and the public.
[00:07:38.080]So that's kind of my resume.
[00:07:41.280]And here's my advice.
[00:07:45.780]Whatever you pursue once you leave here,
[00:07:51.640]you're gonna have lots of opportunities.
[00:07:53.600]And I would say, you probably have a lot more opportunities to choose from
[00:07:58.580]than when I left college and went into the workforce.
[00:08:02.640]The criminal justice field has expanded across a number of fronts.
[00:08:06.080]Whether you go into research, and then there's parole, probation,
[00:08:11.360]law enforcement, corrections.
[00:08:13.200]The other thing I always considered was working in government,
[00:08:17.820]public administration, those kinds of issues.
[00:08:21.500]And looking at processes and
[00:08:25.040]working in the criminal justice field in that way.
[00:08:29.700]But, so you have tremendous opportunity.
[00:08:32.520]I'm gonna make a shameless plug here for law enforcement.
[00:08:35.160]So, retention, hiring and retention of law enforcement officers right now is
[00:08:40.920]a critical issue in law enforcement.
[00:08:42.880]And this is nationwide, it's not just our state.
[00:08:45.220]So agencies are really struggling with
[00:08:51.360]mechanisms to put in play where they can identify qualified candidates.
[00:08:56.180]And they can hire and retain those individuals.
[00:08:59.120]The competition in the market is extreme.
[00:09:02.600]So just because you hire an officer, you might get them trained and
[00:09:05.680]they might go to work for you, they may not stay there.
[00:09:09.320]They may go somewhere else, because the demand is so high right now.
[00:09:13.500]So what we're seeing, which is a real departure from when I went into
[00:09:16.980]the profession, the salaries right now are very attractive.
[00:09:21.220]The other thing that we're seeing is they're incentivizing other issues.
[00:09:27.880]So if you're an officer in the state of Nebraska, you can go to college at a state
[00:09:34.780]institution of higher learning, tuition free.
[00:09:39.240]If you're a family member, so if you're, say you got a few years under your belt, you have
[00:09:44.260]a family and you have children that are going to go to school, go to college, they go free.
[00:09:51.080]Well, that's a, that's a heck of a benefit.
[00:09:53.960]We have a retention bonus program in play right now.
[00:09:57.560]So we started that in 2023.
[00:10:01.080]So the first year of that program, every sworn law enforcement officer was eligible to receive
[00:10:06.120]a $1,500 stipend.
[00:10:09.160]Next year we'll do round two and they will get $3,000.
[00:10:12.580]And then in year five, they get five or excuse me, $3,500 just, just to stay in the profession.
[00:10:19.500]And then there's a hiring bonus program.
[00:10:20.940]So if you're a brand new law enforcement officer and you work for a department with fewer than
[00:10:28.000]150 officers, once you complete your training, you submit an application to the crime commission
[00:10:35.860]and you can receive up to $7,500 as an incentive hiring bonus.
[00:10:42.240]So those are things that weren't available when I came on board.
[00:10:47.180]So it's kind of nice.
[00:10:49.500]So that's enough about careers.
[00:10:50.800]Career and opportunity.
[00:10:51.800]But keep your option open.
[00:10:54.020]That's my advice.
[00:10:55.020]Okay.
[00:10:56.020]A little bit about the crime commission.
[00:10:57.620]So we are the criminal justice advisory entity for the governor's office.
[00:11:05.500]So if you are to look at what we do on a national level, state by state, every state, every
[00:11:13.460]governor has an entity somewhat what mirrors our agency, somebody that's dealing with criminal
[00:11:20.660]justice issues across the boards, not just law enforcement.
[00:11:25.200]They're looking at standards and certification requirements.
[00:11:29.420]We get into the criminal justice programs around juveniles, corrections.
[00:11:36.100]So all those issues.
[00:11:38.380]So we are the point person or the agency that really spearheads a lot of issues with the
[00:11:43.840]governor's office on those types of things.
[00:11:47.600]The other requirement that
[00:11:50.520]we fulfill is we tend to be the conduit through which the legislature introduces or addresses
[00:11:58.100]criminal justice issues.
[00:12:00.140]So it is not uncommon.
[00:12:01.840]The legislature will propose a new program, a new initiative.
[00:12:05.580]It gets assigned to us.
[00:12:06.920]We may or may not get some money to do it.
[00:12:10.420]And so we take on that responsibility.
[00:12:12.520]So our mission set can change or we have to adjust, sometimes on relatively short
[00:12:20.380]notice.
[00:12:21.380]But that's the mechanism by which a lot of these initiatives are carried out.
[00:12:25.780]We put them in play for either the governor's office or the legislature.
[00:12:31.460]The nature of what we do requires significant collaboration across the board.
[00:12:40.200]We have some programming requirements defined in statute that we have to address.
[00:12:45.740]And so in order to carry that out, typically,
[00:12:50.240]they will form an advisory board or a committee, a board commission or a committee.
[00:12:56.140]Typically, they're appointed by the governor.
[00:12:58.180]But the goal there is to gain a broader spectrum of perspective on the issue.
[00:13:08.460]And so you have, let's say, many different perspectives that can alter
[00:13:13.300]the course of how that program's going to be administered.
[00:13:17.240]And that's done on purpose, so that we have that
[00:13:20.100]diversity of opinion and perspective can really help us shape a more effective program.
[00:13:27.540]We have stakeholders that are engaged in that process who are, I'll call them, their delivery
[00:13:34.320]mechanisms, or they're nonprofit, nongovernment organizations that address service delivery
[00:13:40.760]issues for certain issues.
[00:13:44.220]We want their perspective.
[00:13:45.660]We want their participation.
[00:13:49.960]We also, you know, we work very closely with the Crime Commission, which is a 19-member
[00:13:56.940]board appointed by the governor.
[00:13:59.180]They are technically the board or the committee commission that has direct oversight on our
[00:14:04.560]agency.
[00:14:05.560]The governor, I work directly for the governor, but I also work with the commission members
[00:14:12.940]on addressing a whole number of issues, everything from administering grant funds to looking
[00:14:19.060]at programming.
[00:14:19.820]We do a lot on standards and certifications and training issues on law enforcement.
[00:14:28.220]So we work it through them.
[00:14:29.520]We have a police standards advisory council.
[00:14:32.480]So I don't know if any of you are familiar with the term, the post function, police officer
[00:14:37.100]standards and training, oftentimes states will establish a post and that's the entity
[00:14:42.860]that really establishes the requirements for law enforcement training, you know, the application
[00:14:49.680]and hiring requirements, all those qualification issues, and they will address the de-certification
[00:14:56.680]or revocation of a law enforcement certificate.
[00:14:59.840]So the post function in our state is largely performed by our agency.
[00:15:06.120]We work in cooperation with the police standards advisory council, but our training center
[00:15:12.800]out in Grand Island, the law enforcement training center, technically administers a lot of that
[00:15:18.540]process.
[00:15:19.540]And then as executive director, I have some authority to direct some of the elements of
[00:15:27.660]that process as well.
[00:15:29.840]So again, that's a collaborative process.
[00:15:32.680]We have a jail standards board that establishes the operating criteria for county jails and
[00:15:40.060]detention facilities in our state.
[00:15:42.020]So I have a staff that goes out and they inspect every jail and every detention facility annually.
[00:15:49.400]They develop a report.
[00:15:51.080]That report goes to the jail standards board.
[00:15:53.180]They meet quarterly and they review those and they can identify a facility that's not
[00:15:59.720]in compliance with the requirements.
[00:16:02.100]And so there could be some potential sanctions against that agency.
[00:16:05.400]Yes, sir.
[00:16:06.400]I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.
[00:16:14.920]So in our state, the standards are developed based
[00:16:19.260]on court cases.
[00:16:21.760]So a lot of litigation around correctional issues.
[00:16:26.300]Prisoners will typically try to litigate certain issues around conditions or access to services,
[00:16:35.640]those sorts of things.
[00:16:36.960]So we look at that.
[00:16:38.280]So typically it's the physical condition of the facility, cleanliness, access to medical
[00:16:45.780]care, visitation, food service.
[00:16:49.120]Everything that goes into operating a correctional facility.
[00:16:55.020]We also provide the training for all their correctional staff at the county level.
[00:16:59.720]So it's a two-week program, it's mandatory.
[00:17:03.240]So that keeps us quite busy as well.
[00:17:06.720]We do the Crime Victims Reparations Program.
[00:17:10.180]So I don't know if you've looked at any of those issues in your studies, but victims
[00:17:15.700]of crime have gotten a lot more attention.
[00:17:18.980]In recent years than they have in the past.
[00:17:24.080]We received some federal funding through the VOCA grant, which is a Victims of Crime Act
[00:17:29.160]provided to us through Congress through the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
[00:17:34.160]And then we have a state program and we get state dollars for that initiative as well.
[00:17:38.640]So if you're a victim of crime, you can apply to our agency to be compensated for costs.
[00:17:45.960]You know, you were a victim, no fault of your own.
[00:17:48.840]And you're suffering financial hardship as a result of that criminal act.
[00:17:54.020]You can apply for funding.
[00:17:55.460]We can provide some reparations.
[00:17:58.000]So we have a crime victim reparations advisory board.
[00:18:02.800]We have an administrative hearing officer that will review an application.
[00:18:07.960]And then our staff works with both of those entities.
[00:18:10.540]They arrive at a decision and they can compensate folks for those costs.
[00:18:15.960]So yes.
[00:18:18.700]How long have the crime victims reparational program been like going on and how long has
[00:18:29.820]it been active?
[00:18:31.820]Actually, this thing started back in the 80s and this sounds kind of strange.
[00:18:42.420]There was a lot of attention focused on that issue and the legislature elected to adopt
[00:18:47.200]a statute.
[00:18:48.560]But, you know, if you're in this business long enough, you figure out sometimes they'll
[00:18:53.440]pass the initiative, but they won't give you any money for it.
[00:18:56.780]So in the very early days of that program, there was like $20,000 allocated in general
[00:19:04.060]funds.
[00:19:05.060]Well, $20,000 does not go very far.
[00:19:08.040]And I got to tell you, the way that the original rules and regulations were written to carry
[00:19:13.500]out that act, very punitive in my opinion.
[00:19:18.420]It excluded a lot of people, and there was a heavy emphasis on if you were in a situation
[00:19:26.080]and you may have had some -- engaged in some activity that wasn't completely lawful, then
[00:19:33.680]you were denied any type of compensation or access to that program.
[00:19:38.520]So we were denying victims of, like, drunk driving, motor vehicle homicide, those types
[00:19:44.560]of offenses, no fault of their own, but the perspective, I think,
[00:19:48.280]at the legislature was, that's what people have insurance for.
[00:19:53.820]Go sue them civilly and get your money.
[00:19:56.080]So we have worked very hard to revise our rules and regulations, and a few years ago
[00:20:02.460]we had the National Governors Association, it's a national affiliation with the National
[00:20:15.160]Governors Association, a group, they came in and they audited.
[00:20:18.140]Our program, we had some deficiencies.
[00:20:21.440]So we have taken a lot of steps over the last two years to, we revised our rules and regulations,
[00:20:27.880]we're providing more, greater amounts of compensation to victims.
[00:20:33.900]We have worked through some funding issues, so we still get $20,000 a year in general
[00:20:38.920]funds, but they also established a cash fund, so judges can assign fines and penalties and
[00:20:48.000]settlements, goes into that cash fund, and then we use that to compensate victims.
[00:20:53.460]So we have roughly $2.5 million in that fund right now.
[00:20:59.340]We would like to have more, but we're going to take this one step at a time.
[00:21:04.760]So we are looking at a lot of victims of sexual assault.
[00:21:12.080]That comes up quite a bit.
[00:21:13.300]So we have a state statute, if you're a victim of a sexual assault, you're provided
[00:21:17.860]access to medical care, to the rape kit, the test that they used to do the forensics on,
[00:21:27.620]and then any hospital costs associated with that and the lab fees.
[00:21:33.020]That's in state statute.
[00:21:34.100]We have to pay that.
[00:21:34.960]So we use federal funding.
[00:21:36.360]We use the Crime Victims Reparations Fund.
[00:21:38.720]So we tend to address a lot of those issues through that program.
[00:21:46.120]I'm going to stop.
[00:21:46.720]Any other questions?
[00:21:47.720]Yes, sir?
[00:21:48.720]I saw that you mentioned something about getting, like, reimbursement or incentives for going
[00:22:01.520]into law enforcement.
[00:22:04.380]What if I go through college now and then go into law enforcement after?
[00:22:08.980]What does that look like for an incentive there?
[00:22:11.480]Well, there's no reimbursement for your college expense.
[00:22:16.580]However...
[00:22:17.580]Do you remember this program years ago if you went into law enforcement and you had
[00:22:21.620]your degree that they would pay your tuition?
[00:22:23.660]Yeah, the LEAP program.
[00:22:25.960]The LEAP program, yeah.
[00:22:28.660]So that was around for a while.
[00:22:29.980]I don't think that exists anymore.
[00:22:33.760]But there is the opportunity if you want to continue your education, you could do it tuition
[00:22:37.100]free.
[00:22:38.100]Yeah.
[00:22:39.100]Are there extra points when you go into hiring?
[00:22:42.360]I can cover hiring.
[00:22:43.440]Yes.
[00:22:44.440]Sorry.
[00:22:45.440]I mean, like, if you...
[00:22:47.440]If you go into college and apply for a law enforcement position, do they give you any
[00:22:50.980]credit in terms of points as you're being evaluated?
[00:22:55.760]The short answer to that is no.
[00:22:58.680]So I'll give you a for instance.
[00:23:02.640]Some agencies are requiring four-year college degrees just to apply.
[00:23:08.920]That was pretty popular for a period of time.
[00:23:11.540]What we're beginning to see is they're backing away from that a bit.
[00:23:17.300]They encourage college, but people with military service and life experiences, you know, you
[00:23:27.060]have to demonstrate you have the mental capacity to do the job, along with the character requirements
[00:23:34.740]and physical issues.
[00:23:37.920]But you know, I think by and large, law enforcement's looking at qualified applicants a bit different
[00:23:45.660]now.
[00:23:47.160]Isn't so much on having a four-year college degree as it is some of the other requirements.
[00:23:53.280]And you know, the patrol is that way, but here's the other thing.
[00:23:58.840]Most of the people that we hired had college degrees, or they had military experience and
[00:24:03.820]a combination of college and some other work experience.
[00:24:06.960]So my recommendation is, go get your degree.
[00:24:10.560]I would always recommend that.
[00:24:13.600]I think if you're competing against a pool of applicants.
[00:24:17.020]And I think that allows you to stand out a bit better than maybe somebody, you know,
[00:24:22.840]didn't go to college.
[00:24:25.140]Yes, sir.
[00:24:30.020]What are some of the requirements for becoming an officer?
[00:24:33.020]Currently, you have to be a US citizen, you have to be 21 on or before the date that you
[00:24:39.500]are actually sworn in.
[00:24:41.620]So you typically apply.
[00:24:46.880]You attend either training out at the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center for 16 weeks.
[00:24:54.040]LPD trains their own officers.
[00:24:57.920]We have an entity called the Sarpy Douglas County Law Enforcement Academy.
[00:25:02.560]So there's a group of metro area agencies that collaborate and share the cost.
[00:25:08.960]That's I think about 18 weeks.
[00:25:11.500]OPD trains their own folks, and then the patrol trains their own.
[00:25:15.740]Patrol's camp is...
[00:25:16.740]It's about 22 weeks, 22, 23 weeks.
[00:25:23.640]So prior to you getting an offer of employment, you have to take a polygraph test.
[00:25:30.740]You will have to pass the physical requirements.
[00:25:33.920]You'll have to pass a medical screening, or a physical, so to speak.
[00:25:41.140]You'll have to pass a background investigation, and typically that's performed by the agency
[00:25:45.940]that is hiring you.
[00:25:46.600]And there's been some changes recently, so if you're employed by an agency and you apply
[00:25:57.080]to another one, the hiring, the agency that's going to hire you can go back.
[00:26:03.780]They have to do a background on you.
[00:26:05.980]They can request access to your employment records from your previous employer, so another
[00:26:13.720]law enforcement agency that you might have worked for.
[00:26:16.460]Then they will use that in the background investigation as well.
[00:26:20.140]So I would describe the background investigation process as fairly thorough.
[00:26:27.920]So once you meet all those requirements, then you have to attend training, successfully
[00:26:32.600]complete it.
[00:26:34.480]Most agencies will require a probationary period and an FTO program, a field training
[00:26:39.580]officer program, where you work with an experienced officer under their supervision.
[00:26:46.320]Typically, it's an 18-week program.
[00:26:49.580]Once you complete all that, then at some point you will become identified as a permanent
[00:26:53.820]employee and away you go.
[00:26:58.200]So it takes about, with your training in the academy setting, 16 to 22 weeks, followed
[00:27:06.920]by an 18-week period of FTO training, followed by a probationary period.
[00:27:11.460]So we usually figure it's at least a year before you are out.
[00:27:16.180]Out functioning on your own as an officer.
[00:27:21.140]And there's some exceptions to that.
[00:27:23.040]So I can cover those real quick.
[00:27:25.360]So agencies can hire you and give you about 80 hours of training and you can become a
[00:27:30.420]non-traditional, excuse me, non-conditional officer, an NCO.
[00:27:36.600]And that allows you to work under the supervision of an experienced officer until you can go
[00:27:41.740]to training.
[00:27:42.740]And you have to enroll in the first available training session.
[00:27:46.040]And then you go to training and then you come back.
[00:27:49.240]So what we find now is some agencies are hiring people and then actually putting them through
[00:27:53.600]the FTO program as an NCO and then they go to training and they come back, they're pretty
[00:27:59.640]much ready to go.
[00:28:00.900]So that's another way to address it.
[00:28:16.580]One issue I would like to talk to you folks about, you know, so we go through all these efforts, expend all these resources to identify qualified people to be police officers.
[00:28:28.420]Unfortunately, we have to have a process which is very complicated and time consuming.
[00:28:34.360]If somebody gets in trouble, they get convicted of a crime or they commit some type of behavior that is considered a violation of their oath of office.
[00:28:45.820]We will take steps to decertify them or to revoke their law enforcement certification.
[00:28:50.920]We've seen an uptick in that lately.
[00:28:55.080]And after the George Floyd incident in Minnesota, we saw a lot of states revise a lot of expectations for officers to maintain their certification.
[00:29:15.060]And so, you know, we revised the rules and regs on that process.
[00:29:20.620]We have a lot of latitude to initiate an informal complaint on an officer anytime their status changes.
[00:29:30.400]So if they were to, for instance, here is something occurs and the employing agency finds out about it.
[00:29:38.720]They do an internal affairs investigation.
[00:29:40.640]They determine there's enough there to discipline the officer.
[00:29:44.300]Perhaps even terminate them.
[00:29:45.760]If that officer is brought in and they say we're going to terminate you and they go, OK, terminate me or no, I'll resign in lieu of termination.
[00:29:54.680]We get notified because their change, their status change.
[00:29:59.260]They have seven days to report that to us.
[00:30:01.400]If we find there's an issue there, then we will, one, walk their certificate so they can't be employed as an officer.
[00:30:10.460]And then secondly, we initiate an investigation.
[00:30:13.540]And those investigations can take several months.
[00:30:16.240]But during that time, they cannot be employed as an officer.
[00:30:20.080]Eventually, we get to the point where if it's founded, then we take steps through the Police Standards Advisory Council, schedule a formal hearing.
[00:30:28.480]They go before the PSAC or they waive their hearing.
[00:30:32.240]And then their certificate is revoked.
[00:30:36.160]So, yes.
[00:30:37.180]What are some, like, examples of, like, things officers,
[00:30:42.780]like, might do or, like, have done
[00:30:44.820]that, like, can get them, like, their status changed?
[00:30:48.100]So, grounds for revocation can be conviction for a felony.
[00:30:55.160]So that's an automatic. You're gone.
[00:30:57.640]Misdemeanors, if it has a rational connection to your duty
[00:31:04.720]as a law enforcement officer.
[00:31:06.100]So if we have an officer that commits some type of act
[00:31:09.980]and the prosecutors file a criminal charge
[00:31:12.620]on it, typically it's called official misconduct.
[00:31:15.300]That's the statute.
[00:31:17.260]And if they're found guilty of official misconduct,
[00:31:20.780]we deem that to mean they violated their oath of office
[00:31:24.380]and that criminal offense has a rational connection
[00:31:27.980]to their duty as a law enforcement officer.
[00:31:29.880]Then we initiate revocation proceedings,
[00:31:31.860]and that's typically automatic.
[00:31:33.660]Now, we get involved in all kinds of kind of bizarre situations.
[00:31:42.460]We demonstrate behavior against policy, agency policy,
[00:31:48.200]or, you know, we've had, for some reason,
[00:31:54.440]we've had an uptick in sexual misconduct while on duty.
[00:31:59.540]It's not all that uncommon for some reason.
[00:32:04.900]And those are deemed to be a violation of their oath of office,
[00:32:09.700]and we initiate the revocation process for those.
[00:32:12.300]Sometimes we have people that have substance abuse issues and can't get it
[00:32:17.300]under control and continue to demonstrate behavior inappropriate.
[00:32:22.140]It's not just that they have a drinking or a drug problem,
[00:32:25.560]but they can't get it under control and it leads to other behavior which gets
[00:32:32.000]them in trouble.
[00:32:34.740]And then ultimately something serious enough that violates the oath of office.
[00:32:42.140]So we got to look at those on a case by case basis.
[00:32:45.140]Um, so I, all the information that you shared is really interesting,
[00:33:02.900]especially about the pay increases over time. I have a student who's working on,
[00:33:07.160]um, researching officer wellness and wellbeing as it relates to,
[00:33:11.980]as it relates to physical wellness and mental health. Um,
[00:33:14.960]are there any standards or practices that are promoted via the crime commission
[00:33:19.980]or elsewhere related to that?
[00:33:23.200]So we have an accreditation program for a state accreditation program.
[00:33:30.840]Now the, the, on a national level,
[00:33:33.880]there's the commission on accreditation for law enforcement agencies.
[00:33:36.820]That's a national program. So our state program really,
[00:33:41.820]provides agencies with a list of model policies that we asked them to adopt.
[00:33:46.820]And if they want to receive federal or state grant dollars,
[00:33:54.200]they have to be accredited. So they have to adopt these policies.
[00:33:57.540]So that's been in play.
[00:33:58.620]Nearly all law enforcement agencies in the state of are accredited.
[00:34:04.740]I think our list of non-accredited agencies, like maybe 11 agencies,
[00:34:08.880]something like that, very small agencies.
[00:34:11.660]But in the context of accreditation, we try to address some issues around officer wellness.
[00:34:17.700]The other thing that typically occurs is agencies will have an employee assistance program.
[00:34:27.060]And so they make that available to officers if they find themselves in need of mental health,
[00:34:33.600]crisis intervention, substance abuse, family issues, you know, all those sorts of things.
[00:34:41.500]They can be referred to the EAP program or they can seek a voluntary referral.
[00:34:47.880]So typically that's what we did at the patrol.
[00:34:50.820]In some cases, we compelled the officer to go to the EAP program.
[00:34:55.780]And when we did that, we got feedback from the providers letting us know what the progress
[00:35:00.600]of that officer on that issue is.
[00:35:04.720]It was not designed to be punitive or disciplinary in nature as simply
[00:35:11.340]to compel that person to get help in an effort to salvage their career.
[00:35:15.720]So there is that.
[00:35:17.680]There are no standards that I'm aware of on officer wellness.
[00:35:27.660]We had attempted to do a mandatory physical fitness test.
[00:35:33.620]So this is one of those issues where you are very engaged
[00:35:41.180]with the union and the labor groups on what that meant.
[00:35:44.480]So it went something like this.
[00:35:47.080]Okay, you had a physical standard you had to achieve in order to get the job.
[00:35:51.060]So what are our expectations for you to keep your job?
[00:35:54.100]And so at one point, we were testing officers annually
[00:35:57.380]on physical fitness requirements.
[00:35:59.340]So I don't know if you've ever heard of the Cooper Institute.
[00:36:04.100]They developed physical fitness standards based on sex and age.
[00:36:11.020]So we used the Cooper Institute model.
[00:36:12.960]We did physical fitness testing.
[00:36:14.900]If you couldn't pass your test, you could be referred to a doctor
[00:36:19.240]to get a prescription to try to get in shape, those kinds of issues.
[00:36:23.620]I have to be honest with you.
[00:36:25.660]We got so much pushback from the union and the labor groups,
[00:36:29.020]and we got a lot of, and it was expensive.
[00:36:31.860]It was really expensive.
[00:36:34.500]So we were paying for annual physicals,
[00:36:36.840]I mean a medical physical exam that we paid,
[00:36:40.200]and then we...
[00:36:40.860]We had to take the time to administer the fitness test
[00:36:43.840]and then, you know, do the administrative requirements
[00:36:46.860]behind that, and then if that generated a list of officers
[00:36:49.600]that were on, you know, being watched
[00:36:52.620]or had to address that, that took even more time.
[00:36:55.900]So unfortunately, it sounds really good in theory,
[00:37:00.940]putting it in play is a real challenge.
[00:37:03.800]So I think the emphasis now is on, you know, officer wellness,
[00:37:10.700]meaning, you know, that we have an EAP program
[00:37:14.800]or assistance available to work with them on issues.
[00:37:17.380]I got a question for you.
[00:37:24.180]You were a cop for 32 years.
[00:37:26.820]What's the toughest part about being a cop on the streets?
[00:37:29.980]So I think, you know, if you're going to go into that profession,
[00:37:35.200]a couple things is you got to have that,
[00:37:40.540]the mindset that it is public service.
[00:37:43.780]You know, you encounter a lot of folks over the course of your career
[00:37:50.780]when you're out there working with the public,
[00:37:52.900]and I would tell you this,
[00:37:54.860]like 90%, 95% of those folks that you encounter are great to work with.
[00:38:00.600]I mean, they need service, or you're helping them with an issue,
[00:38:05.860]or even if you write them a ticket for speeding
[00:38:08.740]or arrest them for something else,
[00:38:10.380]they're pretty decent to you.
[00:38:11.500]You don't have any problems.
[00:38:13.180]There's just a small group that are the challenge.
[00:38:16.880]And unfortunately, you're going to have to expect
[00:38:22.840]that you're going to have to deal with those folks.
[00:38:24.360]So the mindset to me is you are truly out there
[00:38:28.400]doing good things for the public.
[00:38:30.460]That was my overwhelming experience.
[00:38:33.280]It was wonderful.
[00:38:34.260]Were there situations where your thought process had
[00:38:40.220]to adjust?
[00:38:41.460]Yes.
[00:38:42.500]There are people out there that want to hurt you.
[00:38:45.000]They don't want to cooperate.
[00:38:46.520]They don't like you.
[00:38:47.600]And you'll get no or little cooperation from them.
[00:38:51.500]And unfortunately, you have some situations
[00:38:55.360]where you have to use force to effect an arrest
[00:38:59.120]or deal with a situation.
[00:39:00.340]Those were far and few between.
[00:39:02.140]It wasn't like every night you went to work
[00:39:04.260]and you were going to go in the bar pit
[00:39:06.360]and wrestle with somebody.
[00:39:07.300]That's not what it is.
[00:39:10.060]You've got long periods of monotony and boredom
[00:39:15.760]punctuated by periods of some type
[00:39:19.120]of extreme emotional response,
[00:39:21.680]which I think is why cops have heart attacks.
[00:39:23.640]So the mindset, again, public service,
[00:39:28.440]mental acuity, mental toughness
[00:39:31.800]to deal with some unusual or difficult situations.
[00:39:35.580]You get to see a lot of tragedy
[00:39:39.900]in people's lives.
[00:39:40.560]You know, you deal with children
[00:39:45.880]that are oftentimes in some sort
[00:39:48.120]of very difficult circumstance.
[00:39:49.440]That takes a bit of a toll on you.
[00:39:52.420]You deal with death.
[00:39:54.240]So you deal with human tragedy.
[00:40:00.060]So you get to see the best of folks,
[00:40:01.680]and sometimes you see the worst.
[00:40:03.480]And you can kind of carry that around
[00:40:07.840]with you for a while.
[00:40:09.740]So I'm not originally from Nebraska,
[00:40:24.420]but people do say that Midwest people
[00:40:28.240]are more nice than other areas.
[00:40:29.840]Do you think that the state of Nebraska
[00:40:33.120]versus other states,
[00:40:34.200]does that impact crime rate
[00:40:37.380]or things surrounding that?
[00:40:39.580]Yeah, so I would say our values here
[00:40:46.420]are fairly well grounded.
[00:40:48.080]And I'm fortunate for law enforcement,
[00:40:52.600]you deal with that a lot.
[00:40:53.600]I mean, you've got great people that live here,
[00:40:55.800]support law enforcement.
[00:40:57.440]But the one thing you've got to remember
[00:41:00.440]is we've got a 450-mile stretch of highway
[00:41:03.300]that runs from one end to the other,
[00:41:04.920]and everybody in the world
[00:41:06.320]is traveling up and down that sucker.
[00:41:08.020]And you get...
[00:41:09.420]You're seeing some really...
[00:41:13.440]There's a lot of drug traffic.
[00:41:15.620]There's a lot of human trafficking.
[00:41:17.120]You have people that are wanted
[00:41:20.900]that are traversing our state.
[00:41:25.080]So you encounter all that.
[00:41:26.740]People have mental health episodes
[00:41:28.380]out on the interstate.
[00:41:29.460]You have crime.
[00:41:30.760]You know, we had an unfortunate circumstance
[00:41:33.100]last year where the couple,
[00:41:35.660]an older couple was in their RV at a rest stop
[00:41:39.260]and a guy with a knife killed them.
[00:41:44.240]Killed the husband and really injured the spouse.
[00:41:50.700]So, you know, things like that,
[00:41:53.320]just you really don't expect in the breath,
[00:41:55.000]but they happen.
[00:41:56.040]That's usually along the interstate there.
[00:41:58.840]But we are seeing a lot of gang activity.
[00:42:04.280]You know, traditionally it was confined to like North
[00:42:09.100]Omaha, but we're seeing first class communities,
[00:42:11.820]cities in the state that are being heavily impacted
[00:42:15.400]by a whole variety of different gangs.
[00:42:18.640]Human trafficking has been on the increase,
[00:42:22.460]and we see that all over the state of Nebraska.
[00:42:25.420]Smaller communities, communities with meat
[00:42:28.660]processing plants, not trying to pick on the industry,
[00:42:30.920]but we do see that.
[00:42:32.480]We have a lot of migrant employees.
[00:42:35.800]They're, you know, transient.
[00:42:38.940]They come through the state.
[00:42:40.080]They're not, don't have a lot of stable home life,
[00:42:42.740]those kinds of situations, and that leads to some problems.
[00:42:45.600]But, you know, those are the things that you encounter.
[00:42:49.100]Can you speak a little bit on the mental health,
[00:43:03.340]if there's any kind of intervention
[00:43:05.160]or anything going on with that?
[00:43:06.580]Are you talking, like,
[00:43:08.780]mental health services for the public or...?
[00:43:11.840]Anything.
[00:43:12.220]Okay, let me talk about mental...
[00:43:14.260]So this past summer,
[00:43:16.000]the lieutenant governor and I went around the state
[00:43:18.860]and we met regionally with law enforcement
[00:43:21.620]and with prosecutors.
[00:43:23.120]The number one topic,
[00:43:25.120]we never had to solicit it at any of the meetings.
[00:43:27.800]The first thing that...
[00:43:30.680]The first topic that came up
[00:43:32.060]was access to mental health services.
[00:43:33.960]I got to be honest with you.
[00:43:36.800]Our state really struggled.
[00:43:38.740]We had no hospitals on that issue.
[00:43:39.860]Back when I was working,
[00:43:43.440]so I worked in Norfolk.
[00:43:46.740]We had a state regional center there,
[00:43:48.960]a mental health hospital.
[00:43:50.460]There were three of them in the state,
[00:43:52.820]Hastings, Lincoln, and Norfolk.
[00:43:55.300]We had somebody to take a mental health,
[00:43:58.980]a person in crisis.
[00:44:00.220]We had some place to take them to
[00:44:02.140]where we could get them care.
[00:44:03.260]Now, were there problems in some of those facilities?
[00:44:06.720]Yeah.
[00:44:08.260]But there were facilities there that could deal with it.
[00:44:10.960]And we did emergency mental health commitments.
[00:44:16.240]It was not unusual.
[00:44:18.040]And so you had a place to immediately take them
[00:44:21.100]into a facility, and they could start getting treatment.
[00:44:23.660]We don't have that anymore.
[00:44:25.920]Everything is supposed to be community-based.
[00:44:28.260]And here's part of the problem.
[00:44:30.380]So law enforcement encounters people
[00:44:32.260]with mental health issues.
[00:44:33.500]So there are options.
[00:44:35.460]Try to voluntarily.
[00:44:37.780]Get them to voluntarily go seek treatment.
[00:44:40.500]Or they can go through
[00:44:42.660]the mental health commitment process,
[00:44:44.640]which requires time.
[00:44:48.200]In the meantime,
[00:44:49.880]that individual is likely to be sitting in jail
[00:44:52.520]until they can get a mental health board hearing.
[00:44:56.100]Work with the county attorney
[00:44:58.540]to look at the criminal charges.
[00:45:00.060]Try to figure out a way
[00:45:02.420]to get that person into an available bed.
[00:45:04.880]So we have hospitals.
[00:45:07.300]Not all of them,
[00:45:08.880]but some hospitals provide mental health services.
[00:45:11.920]The waiting list is a mile long.
[00:45:14.280]So the typical scenario is
[00:45:16.720]you go from the jail
[00:45:18.520]to a treatment facility, a hospital.
[00:45:21.860]Typically, it's a very short turnaround time.
[00:45:25.680]Part of the reason for that
[00:45:28.000]is the demand for the bed space.
[00:45:29.980]I'm sorry, I'm losing my voice.
[00:45:31.660]The demand for the bed space is so great,
[00:45:34.540]they have to stabilize these people
[00:45:36.480]and literally,
[00:45:37.060]get them back out
[00:45:38.040]to make room for the next person.
[00:45:40.240]During that time,
[00:45:41.980]you have law enforcement,
[00:45:43.060]has to be with that individual.
[00:45:45.000]Prior to taking that person to treatment,
[00:45:48.640]the jail is required
[00:45:49.660]to do a medical examination.
[00:45:51.560]They arrive at the hospital
[00:45:54.380]and the hospital says,
[00:45:55.500]oh, we have to do a medical examination
[00:45:57.580]before we'll admit them.
[00:45:58.580]So there's two medical examinations.
[00:46:01.360]The county gets to pay for that.
[00:46:03.020]They will also say,
[00:46:05.820]is that person violent
[00:46:06.820]and they say, yes.
[00:46:08.140]Well, we're not providing any treatment
[00:46:10.500]unless you're here with them
[00:46:12.140]during the duration.
[00:46:13.860]So law enforcement's become
[00:46:16.440]kind of a caretaker for these individuals,
[00:46:18.400]not just in the jail,
[00:46:19.620]but at the mental health facility.
[00:46:21.900]And so it's a huge drain
[00:46:24.280]on personnel and resource,
[00:46:25.760]a lot of cost to the counties.
[00:46:27.480]So we're looking at
[00:46:30.480]trying to explore alternatives.
[00:46:32.200]If you have a person in crisis,
[00:46:36.580]that always means that they have
[00:46:38.500]a mental health issue
[00:46:40.120]or that they need to be taken
[00:46:42.420]to a provider.
[00:46:43.140]The answer is, I don't think so.
[00:46:44.880]I think there's alternatives,
[00:46:46.800]and we need to explore those
[00:46:48.340]and what they look like.
[00:46:49.340]But here's my statement,
[00:46:52.860]and you can kind of chew on this
[00:46:55.140]a little bit.
[00:46:55.500]Our jails have become the de facto
[00:46:57.340]mental health treatment facilities
[00:46:58.860]in our state.
[00:46:59.500]Sorry to say that.
[00:47:03.980]And law enforcement knows it,
[00:47:05.320]and they're,
[00:47:06.340]they're looking for solutions.
[00:47:08.100]Part of the problem is
[00:47:10.540]providers can't make any money.
[00:47:12.200]If you look at outstate Nebraska,
[00:47:15.540]you know,
[00:47:16.640]if you're a mental health provider
[00:47:18.140]in those areas,
[00:47:19.700]I mean,
[00:47:20.420]your caseload's not that great.
[00:47:22.340]And so your profit margin
[00:47:25.600]is not good.
[00:47:27.060]You're going to struggle.
[00:47:28.320]We have insurance providers
[00:47:30.320]that make it a bit difficult
[00:47:31.420]to get reimbursed
[00:47:32.820]for those expenses.
[00:47:33.780]I think we have some issues
[00:47:35.480]around Medicare
[00:47:36.100]or excuse me, Medicaid
[00:47:38.220]for people that are indigent
[00:47:40.700]and the reimbursement rate
[00:47:46.740]on those Medicaid cases
[00:47:48.440]is not very good.
[00:47:49.680]So you have providers
[00:47:51.260]that can't sustain operations
[00:47:53.500]because they can't generate
[00:47:54.600]enough revenue.
[00:47:55.360]They're not in it
[00:47:56.380]for the big money,
[00:47:57.120]but they just can't sustain
[00:47:59.000]the operation
[00:47:59.700]because they can't generate
[00:48:02.300]enough cash flow
[00:48:03.120]to sustain it.
[00:48:04.060]So that becomes a problem
[00:48:05.860]as well.
[00:48:06.160]So we are looking
[00:48:08.040]at some models.
[00:48:10.920]They're in play
[00:48:12.740]in some areas.
[00:48:13.740]We've worked with
[00:48:14.700]the Department of Health
[00:48:15.520]and Human Services
[00:48:16.360]and their behavioral
[00:48:17.220]health division.
[00:48:18.300]So they have practitioners
[00:48:20.640]trained in those areas
[00:48:22.060]regionally across the state
[00:48:24.260]who law enforcement
[00:48:25.740]and public safety
[00:48:26.700]can engage with
[00:48:27.840]to try to get
[00:48:28.760]some type of treatment
[00:48:29.660]for folks that are in crisis.
[00:48:31.600]We're adopting a strategy
[00:48:34.340]where you have
[00:48:35.620]you have co-responder teams.
[00:48:37.420]So if you know
[00:48:40.000]you've got a certain type
[00:48:41.060]of a call
[00:48:41.680]that involves a person
[00:48:42.880]in crisis,
[00:48:43.400]you can grab a co-responder
[00:48:45.160]or you can literally
[00:48:47.840]take a laptop
[00:48:48.760]or a iPad with you.
[00:48:51.200]But you get on scene,
[00:48:52.720]you stabilize it
[00:48:53.980]and you can dial up
[00:48:55.360]a provider
[00:48:55.920]that will give assistance
[00:48:57.660]to that individual
[00:48:58.580]over the laptop
[00:49:00.200]or the iPad.
[00:49:01.040]It's at least
[00:49:05.200]a standard
[00:49:05.380]or an intervention strategy
[00:49:07.400]to get these people help
[00:49:08.700]without having
[00:49:09.620]to put them in jail
[00:49:10.480]or to take them
[00:49:12.300]into a treatment facility.
[00:49:14.220]I can just tell you,
[00:49:16.000]this is a huge issue
[00:49:17.200]in law enforcement
[00:49:17.880]right now.
[00:49:18.420]Yeah.
[00:49:19.120]What was your favorite
[00:49:22.060]part of your career?
[00:49:22.860]Well, geez,
[00:49:24.880]I've done some.
[00:49:25.460]So people will ask me that
[00:49:30.620]and I'll go,
[00:49:31.120]my common response
[00:49:32.620]is, you know,
[00:49:33.160]I always long
[00:49:34.500]for the days
[00:49:35.140]when I was just
[00:49:35.760]a brand new trooper
[00:49:36.660]out there working the road,
[00:49:37.940]minding my own business,
[00:49:39.880]doing my thing,
[00:49:40.920]followed all the rules.
[00:49:42.520]Nobody bothered me.
[00:49:43.780]It was great.
[00:49:45.420]I loved working
[00:49:47.360]with the public.
[00:49:48.080]It was really
[00:49:50.720]an enjoyable part
[00:49:52.060]of my career.
[00:49:52.660]I've had a lot
[00:49:55.060]of really great
[00:49:56.200]opportunities
[00:49:57.040]afforded to me
[00:49:58.040]when I was at the patrol.
[00:49:59.640]You know,
[00:50:01.540]the training environment
[00:50:02.540]was wonderful.
[00:50:03.420]That was a huge
[00:50:04.900]career development
[00:50:05.860]opportunity for me.
[00:50:07.940]I learned a lot
[00:50:09.020]and I think
[00:50:09.560]I developed
[00:50:11.160]certain skill sets
[00:50:12.480]and mindsets
[00:50:13.480]from being in training
[00:50:15.100]that really helped me
[00:50:17.080]advance in my career.
[00:50:18.980]I was engaged
[00:50:22.640]on a national level
[00:50:23.620]through the International
[00:50:24.400]Association of Chiefs of Police.
[00:50:26.060]I served as the chair
[00:50:28.560]for the State
[00:50:29.220]and Provincial Division
[00:50:30.160]for a period of time.
[00:50:31.720]That was a tremendous honor.
[00:50:34.660]Being selected by the governor
[00:50:36.280]to be the superintendent,
[00:50:37.520]that's a hell of an honor.
[00:50:40.500]And it was a demanding position.
[00:50:44.160]You know, after 32 years,
[00:50:46.820]I thought I'd probably
[00:50:47.900]done enough there.
[00:50:48.860]So I elected to retire.
[00:50:50.840]But, you know,
[00:50:52.540]law enforcement
[00:50:54.140]was a part of me
[00:50:55.080]for a long time.
[00:50:55.960]You know, the other,
[00:50:58.580]you know, I worked at NEMA
[00:51:01.580]for seven and a half years
[00:51:03.100]and had
[00:51:04.420]a really talented staff there.
[00:51:06.160]And if you recall,
[00:51:08.660]2019 was the flood.
[00:51:10.340]In fact, Chris had me come here
[00:51:12.480]and do a presentation
[00:51:14.120]on the flood.
[00:51:15.340]There were a lot of challenges
[00:51:20.520]with that event.
[00:51:22.240]But, I mean, we typically dealt
[00:51:23.620]with floods, fires, tornadoes,
[00:51:25.200]the whole spectrum of issues.
[00:51:28.160]We were involved
[00:51:28.780]in the Homeland Security Program.
[00:51:30.220]But I liked working
[00:51:31.900]on those issues.
[00:51:32.760]But I got to tell you,
[00:51:34.180]the flood response in 2019
[00:51:37.280]was really kind of a capstone event
[00:51:39.620]for my career.
[00:51:40.480]You cannot believe the level
[00:51:45.220]of cooperation between the federal
[00:51:48.340]and the state agencies
[00:51:49.480]and then our local partners.
[00:51:51.380]It really, to me, demonstrated
[00:51:55.840]that all of our time and energy
[00:51:57.620]and the investment of resources
[00:52:00.120]to be able to respond to that
[00:52:03.940]was truly worth the effort.
[00:52:05.640]And so I'm very grateful.
[00:52:08.560]Governor Ricketts really, in my opinion,
[00:52:12.480]demonstrated tremendous leadership
[00:52:14.160]during that event.
[00:52:15.600]I had the opportunity,
[00:52:18.180]I worked with the Adjutant General
[00:52:20.300]for the National Guard.
[00:52:22.000]We worked hand in hand
[00:52:24.260]and he was a very effective leader.
[00:52:28.080]So, and then our state agency partners,
[00:52:33.040]our directors,
[00:52:33.700]from all the different agencies,
[00:52:34.980]we collaborated to identify resources,
[00:52:37.440]get assistance,
[00:52:38.920]and our federal partners at FEMA
[00:52:41.100]were really good to work with.
[00:52:42.680]They're getting a bad rap right now
[00:52:44.600]and there are problems with FEMA
[00:52:46.840]and disaster response,
[00:52:48.320]but I'm going to tell you,
[00:52:49.580]there's a lot of very dedicated,
[00:52:51.560]knowledgeable, professional people
[00:52:53.200]in that agency.
[00:52:53.960]So I'm kind of waiting to see
[00:52:56.440]what happens with that,
[00:52:57.460]but I tell you what,
[00:52:59.640]they made the difference for us
[00:53:01.940]when we responded during that flood
[00:53:03.460]and now I'm in my current position
[00:53:06.460]and I'm really, quite honestly,
[00:53:08.560]I feel very honored and privileged
[00:53:11.040]to be working back
[00:53:12.420]with the law enforcement agencies again
[00:53:14.540]and our criminal justice partners
[00:53:16.500]and it's just been a great experience.
[00:53:20.640]So I'm thinking I probably will not retire
[00:53:24.300]maybe one more time
[00:53:27.200]and then I'm done.
[00:53:28.060]One more time.
[00:53:33.220]So kind of back on the mental health topic,
[00:53:43.880]it sounds like,
[00:53:45.920]well, you even said yourself
[00:53:47.420]that it is a problem nowadays
[00:53:49.160]in law enforcement.
[00:53:50.060]Is there any training
[00:53:52.640]for law enforcement officers
[00:53:55.680]either before they go into the profession
[00:53:59.460]or during the profession?
[00:54:00.500]Yeah, so we are investing
[00:54:02.980]in during the basic
[00:54:05.020]law enforcement certification training.
[00:54:06.840]Agencies have to provide
[00:54:09.760]a curriculum on mental health,
[00:54:12.100]crisis intervention.
[00:54:13.680]There's a couple other
[00:54:17.000]mandatory topics there,
[00:54:18.520]but we have to do that.
[00:54:21.080]That has to be a part
[00:54:21.980]of the basic curriculum.
[00:54:22.940]And then we have a requirement
[00:54:25.060]in Nebraska.
[00:54:26.000]All law enforcement officers
[00:54:27.440]have to have 32 hours
[00:54:28.820]of continuing ed annually.
[00:54:30.640]And a couple
[00:54:32.740]of those topics are mandatory.
[00:54:34.120]So crisis intervention,
[00:54:35.280]mental health, anti-bias,
[00:54:36.740]those are mandated annually.
[00:54:41.040]So it's a continuing process.
[00:54:43.300]And I will say this.
[00:54:46.040]So the training director
[00:54:48.540]out at Grand Island,
[00:54:49.500]I've had several conversations
[00:54:51.520]with him.
[00:54:52.180]I've also addressed this
[00:54:54.300]with the Police Stands
[00:54:55.640]Advisory Council.
[00:54:56.620]I want us,
[00:54:58.060]as the training entity
[00:54:59.460]in the state,
[00:55:00.140]to take a leadership role.
[00:55:02.500]In looking at
[00:55:03.480]those two issues,
[00:55:05.140]crisis intervention
[00:55:06.040]and mental health.
[00:55:06.800]So we have a faculty member
[00:55:09.040]out there
[00:55:09.680]who has a degree
[00:55:11.280]in behavioral health.
[00:55:12.420]We are going to collaborate
[00:55:14.640]with the university system.
[00:55:16.180]Rich Weiner,
[00:55:17.600]do you know Rich?
[00:55:18.280]Rich,
[00:55:19.380]we speak frequently
[00:55:21.300]with Mario Scalora
[00:55:23.600]and Denise Bowling
[00:55:25.060]around strategies
[00:55:26.960]to reduce violence
[00:55:28.960]in our communities,
[00:55:29.800]but also being very sensitive
[00:55:31.500]to this issue around
[00:55:32.260]behavioral health,
[00:55:33.700]mental health,
[00:55:34.680]crisis intervention.
[00:55:35.560]So we intend to do
[00:55:39.700]some work in that area.
[00:55:41.940]And so we're having
[00:55:44.300]our faculty member out there
[00:55:46.260]kind of take a leadership role
[00:55:48.580]in identifying curriculum
[00:55:50.660]and training issues,
[00:55:51.600]working with stakeholders,
[00:55:52.820]and really focusing in
[00:55:55.660]on what we need to do
[00:55:56.740]to prepare officers
[00:55:57.700]to better deal with this.
[00:56:02.020]I think we might call it quits here.
[00:56:06.380]This gentleman's got a lot
[00:56:07.420]on his shoulders, does he not?
[00:56:08.520]How do you keep track of all this?
[00:56:11.340]We are a diverse organization.
[00:56:13.240]Yes, indeed.
[00:56:14.340]Brian Tuma,
[00:56:16.560]chair of the,
[00:56:18.400]director of the
[00:56:20.620]Nebraska Crime Commission.
[00:56:22.600]Thank you for coming today.
[00:56:24.300]Thank you.
[00:56:24.440]Thank you.
[00:56:24.680]Thank you.

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State of the Agency Lecture Series: Bryan Tuma, Exec. Director of the Nebraska Crime Commission

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