Veterans Lead the Way at Jackson County Detention Center
Diana Knapp, CJM, MS
Captain Lea Henderson serves the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri as the Administrative Captain. Her duties include oversight of the ever-on-the-move Transportation Unit, and the Department Training unit. She is a ranking member of the Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT) and is known for her superior report writing skills, her command presence in crisis, and her willingness to get in the trenches to resolve issues and ensure facility safety and security. A native of California, Capt. Henderson comes from a long family tradition of military and public service. Following her graduation from high school, and with her family’s support, she became a Marine. After boot camp at Paris Island, she served in duty stations that included Pensacola, Florida, and Guam in Signal Intelligence. Being an athlete in school, Capt. Henderson didn’t have concerns about the physical demands of the Corps but was a bit worried about how she would respond to the military discipline and way of life. Ultimately, she valued the structure. The respect for rules, and chain of command that she developed in the military would be important parts of her professional future.
Following her initial enlistment, Capt. Henderson returned home to Kansas City to be closer to family. After periods in local law enforcement and state corrections, she became a member of the Jackson County team in 2013, capitalizing on her prior experiences to be a well-rounded and knowledgeable staff member. Her career at JCDC has been marked by rapid success and repeated promotions in key leadership roles. She is a high achiever, never asking of her subordinates what she is not willing to do herself.
Capt. Henderson encourages her subordinates to seek professional development opportunities and to challenge themselves mentally and physically. She is an excellent trainer and a valued source of feedback to jail administration.
For this interview, Capt. Henderson was asked what advice she would give to new recruits coming out of the military and considering a career in a local detention facility. She said, “Stick with it. As you get more experience you’ll get to where you want to go—even if it’s a stepping stone to another career field”. She added that there is job security in civil service and salary advancements tend to come if you are patient. Capt. Henderson also values the impact she’s been able to have on the inmates in her charge over the course of her career. She said one of the great things about this work is that you get to be a support to inmates and their families, too, to be encouraging to people and communicate with them about their opportunities to do better, to be better.
Capt. Henderson is valued by her team because she takes time for informal recognition and coordinates on shift team building events. She is a good leader for new staff and those with promotional aspirations because she will give them opportunities to take leadership roles and perform tasks that are new, with her support and guidance. This allows her to use alternating leadership in the management of her team, helping to build the next generation of leaders for JCDC. Capt. Henderson was already a veteran staff member when she joined CERT, a goal she undertook to ensure she was fully prepared to manage response teams as a newly promoted Lieutenant. This set a great example for staff members coming to corrections after many years in other fields. It’s never too late, you can meet your goals at JCDC.
This We Will Defend
Major Tony Bowers was only seventeen years old when he left his home in southern Illinois and joined the United States Army. He attended basic training at Ft. McClellan, Alabama and went on to be trained as Military Police. Major Bowers described his early years as challenging and found in the military the structure he needed. He said the military taught him how to be dependable, how to trust others and work as a team, and helped him find the faith foundation that has been his cornerstone for the past thirty-five years. Wanting to give back what the Army provided him, after military service, Major Bowers and his wife, Kimberley, became specialized foster parents, working with children who had special needs, both physical and emotional. The Bowers’, along with their six kids, provided support and haven for dozens of children who came through the foster care system in New Mexico after experiencing severe trauma, neglect, and abuse. He also participated in a Fatherhood Initiative that allowed him to mentor and provide support to teenage fathers, to better enable them to mature into provider and care-giver roles for their infants.
Immediately after the Army, Major Bowers worked as a scratch baker for a restaurant chain, and still enjoys making deep dish pizza for the Bowers clan. Making meals for large groups of people became an important skill in the kitchen of the ever-growing Bowers family.
In 2009, Major Bowers decided to put his experience with at risk youth to work for the New Mexico Department of Corrections, where he found a hand in glove fit as a Correctional Officer. In 2013 the family relocated to Missouri and Major Bowers joined the team at JCDC, promoting from Corrections Officer to Major (Manager of Detention) in ten short years. The announcement of his appointment to Major happened earlier this year. Major Bowers pointed out that being trauma-informed in correctional practices involves developing trust with the population. That happens by being consistent, responsive, and empathetic to the situations JCDC inmates find themselves in once they are booked into the facility. He is a great resource for inmate family members and is quick to address their concerns, further building trust between the facility and the community it serves.
Major Bowers is best known for his approachability and being a direct communicator. He really understands the challenges of his officers as they navigate long hours, mandatory overtime, and family needs and obligations, like childcare.
Wild Blue Yonder
Deputy Director Michael Cunningham, also a native of Illinois, was working as an auto mechanic and racing moto-cross when his employer closed the business, leaving him without a job. He had just bought a new car and needed a way to keep making his payments. That’s when he decided military service might be the solution, so he enlisted in the Air Force. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, he was trained to work on airplanes with expertise in hydraulics, airframes, and plane engines. During his years of service, he was stationed in Wichita Falls, Texas, Mountain Home, Idaho, Ogden, Utah, and for three years was at RAF Lakenheath in England.
Deputy Director Cunningham found early success in the USAF, capitalizing on the military’s educational benefits, finishing his Bachelor of Science Degree in Management, and two Associate Degrees, the first person in his family to do so. He received multiple recognitions. He was promoted to crew chief and was named the Lt. General Leo Marquez Aircraft Maintenance Technician of the Year for the Air Force, the highest performance recognition available to airmen in his occupational
specialty. He was recognized for his attention to detail, the safety of the planes in his charge, and ability to lead his team.
Following his discharge from the Air Force and his return to the States, he parlayed his leadership experience into roles in major construction project management and in support services roles for a major casino. He was also a small business owner in the insurance industry.
In 2010, during what he calls a “reset time”, he took a job at JCDC as a corrections officer. It met a need to provide health insurance for his family, one of the many benefits of civil service. He planned to stay for two years. In due time, and after discussing it with his family and praying about it, he saw a career opportunity, and he saw the chance to make a difference. He also decided that if he was going to be here, he was going to be promoted. Thirteen years later, he is the newly appointed Deputy Director of Operations, the jail’s second in command.
Among Deputy Director Cunningham’s strengths is his ability to analyze systems and processes, keying in on small changes that can make a big impact. His personal motto is to “Do good always.” He’s a team player, supports a strong chain of command, and is willing to ask difficult questions and make tough decisions.
Looking to the Future, Your Jail as Community
Military veterans often gravitate to careers in corrections and law enforcement because they are already acclimated to a command structure, uniform expectations, taking orders in a crisis, doing things other people won’t, or can’t, do. The best team bonds are created in hardship, in the work for excellence, not necessarily in victory. Corrections has that to offer young people entering the work force today. This work gives recruits an opportunity to build family and connections on the job—knowing they can count on the people around them to look out for them and support them.
And like the military, it’s a place of belonging, doing work that matters. It remains the responsibility of jail administration to seek ways to support staff in the journey, acknowledging the cumulative trauma they will face in the performance of their everyday duties. This can be exacerbated by combat experiences and PTSD from military service. Jail command staff needs to focus on helping staff to know one another, and themselves, to ensure they can approach the job from a position of strength and well-being, building a community around the team to provide support and encouragement. Resources abound to help leaders educate their teams about the warning signs and indicators that a staff member may be experiencing crisis. The industry has the opportunity now to shift its attention to heightened awareness, tackling head on the adverse outcomes associated with working in our nation’s jails.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
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Diana Knapp CCE, CJM, MS began her career with the Missouri Department of Corrections as a Probation and Parole Officer in Kansas City, Missouri. Her journey included work as an institutional parole officer and case manager, unit manager, and assistant superintendent at an adult male facility. After returning to Kansas City, she opened a juvenile residential program for delinquent youth aging out of foster care in the state of Kansas, followed by a period managing the juvenile residential and detention centers for the Jackson County Family Court. She returned to the Jackson County Detention Center as the Deputy Director of Operations in late 2017 and was appointed Director in 2018. Diana has an undergraduate degree in history and secondary education and a master’s degree in criminal justice administration. She is a current member of the AJA Board of Directors.