Brown County Sheriff’s Office receives prestigious traffic safety award

BROWN COUNTY, Kan. (WIBW) - The Brown County Sheriff’s Office received the 2022 Kansas Department of Transportation Platinum Community Traffic Safety Award.

Brown County Sheriff’s Office shared that on Wednesday, Sept. 6, Sheriff John Merchant and his department were recognized with the presentation of the award, which was presented by the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office Law Enforcement Liaison Don Hughes.

Brown County Sheriff’s Office indicated the Platinum award is the highest-level honor of this award. The award is presented in recognition of a department’s efforts in the area of improving community traffic safety practices. Many categories are considered and points are awarded by judges in deciding the level of award to be given.

Brown County Sheriff’s Office said they have received the Platinum level award every year since 2017 and were the only recipients in the eastern region for 2022.

Brown County Sheriff’s Offices said their “Teen Lifesaver Initiative” certifies Horton and Hiawatha High School students in the American Heart Association’s “Heartsaver” First Aid, CPR, and AED use. As a department, they are involved in many other programs such as the Kansas Department of Transportation STEP program where they conduct special enforcement lanes concentrating on impaired and distracted drivers as well as unsafe or aggressive driving behaviors. They conduct First Aid and CPR certifications, as well as the American Automobile Association’s Driver Improvement Course (Defensive Driving) certification for the County’s school district staff and bus drivers. Other programs include “Look, Listen and Live” highway and rail crossing enforcement. They also operate a child restraint inspection and fitting station where they ensure child restraint seats are properly installed. All of these and other programs were considered during the judging of the award.

“We are honored as a department to receive this recognition from the Kansas Department of Transportation,” said Sheriff Merchant. “It was a team effort on the part of the Sheriff’s Office personnel.”

It is the policy of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office to enforce the criminal and traffic laws of the State of Kansas to ensure the citizens feel safe as they go about their daily lives. This effort puts their deputies in all the small communities in Brown County, officer presence in itself is a crime deterrent. This award aligns perfectly with their motto, “Proactive Law Enforcement for Safer Communities.”