Wendy Corr:
Well, hey there, folks. Welcome to The Roundup. We are a Cowboy State Daily podcast, and we focus on interesting people in the Cowboy State. And interesting defines - you look in the dictionary and you're going to find Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak. He's the definition of interesting, especially when it comes to law enforcement in the state of Wyoming.
So we're going to have a great conversation with Sheriff Kozak today. He's on location. We are coming to him in his vehicle. This is going to be a lot of fun.
First, I want to make sure to point out that there are some other really great Wyoming based podcasts out there, including the Wyoming Business Alliance business from the basement. If you are a business person in Wyoming, you will find wonderful resources, wonderful information, places to go, people to talk to about your Wyoming business. So check out the Wyoming Business Alliance, “Business from the Basement” podcast.
Thank you so much for joining us, though, here on the Roundup, because we're talking interesting, so I'm going to shift it over here to Brian Kozak, Hello, Brian. We are so glad to have you on the Roundup, Sheriff.
Brian Kozak:
Hey, great to be here. So thanks for the invite.
Wendy Corr:
Absolutely. I love the fact that we are catching you on location, like you are on the job right now, and hopefully we won't get interrupted by, you know, screaming lights and say, Hey, I gotta go. There's an emergency. But we're just gonna pray for a nice, quiet next half hour or so for you, because your life is anything but quiet, isn't that right?
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, it gets busy at times, but we should be good because, you know, we got good coverage today with deputies on the road. So yeah, I'm coming to you for live from Burns, Wyoming at the Antelope truck stop.
Wendy Corr:
So, one of the things again, this is an interesting thing about you. You're out there, you're on patrol right now, you're out there working. And that is something we don't hear a lot of sheriffs, that most, most of the sheriffs in Wyoming, I think they're stuck behind desks, but you refuse to be.
Brian Kozak:
That's right, yeah. I mean, I got my desk time, you know? I got to get in to get all the stuff done that I have to, but I like to get out on the road and patrol, and I like to actually work in the pod with the deputies in the jail and so forth. I work court security, at times, screening people going into court.
So it's just a good way for me to meet new people. And also, I get to learn from the employees, you know, about what's really going on and and so they share things about things that need to be fixed or changed. And so normally, they might be apprehensive to do that. And so we get to then fix things as a result of talking to people.
Wendy Corr:
You were the longest, I think longest police chief for the city of Cheyenne. Isn't that correct? Like 11 years you were the police chief for the city of Cheyenne. And so that's a milestone in itself. And so that really gave you that, that kind of immersion into Laramie County at that point. What made you decide to come and run for sheriff this last time?
Brian Kozak:
Well, there's a couple of reasons. When I was police chief, I actually saw some great opportunities, I thought, for the Sheriff's Office. And so I thought, you know, if I had ever had an opportunity to maybe be Sheriff sometime in the future, you know, there was some great changes, we could make some great opportunities. So that was one reason.
Another reason was, I did take a period of a couple years off after I left being police chief, and basically my wife was like, You got to get a job. So that was the other motivating factor.
Wendy Corr:
A man who listens to his wife- very, very good. That's fantastic. I want to go backwards from where you are now. I'd like to start with your childhood. You actually, you're not a Wyoming native. You started out in Minnesota, but you did not have a typical Minnesota childhood. Tell us a little bit about your life growing up in Minnesota.
Brian Kozak:
Well, I didn't really grow up there, so actually, I was born into a really large Catholic family, so I was a ninth child. So I have eight brothers and sisters, and when my mom was pregnant with me, she was diagnosed with leukemia, and she had just a short time to live.
So they were good friends with our neighbors, who were the Kozaks. And so the Kozaks had said, you know, my dad already has eight kids to take care of. They'll go ahead and adopt me, so that he wouldn't have to take care of the baby. And so that was the plan. And so when I was born, then, the Kozaks adopted me, and they were like I said, they were neighbors with each other.
And then she died shortly after I was born of leukemia, and it was just a period of just several months later, my dad was at a workplace injury. He had a head injury, and so he actually had to be hospitalized for the rest of his life because of the traumatic brain injury.
And so then all the kids went to foster homes, except for my oldest brother, he was 17 at the time, and he enlisted in the Marine Corps, and then he went off to Vietnam.
Wendy Corr:
Oh my goodness, yeah, yeah, that's definitely not your typical childhood and typical family situations.
Brian Kozak:
So the Kozaks adopted me, and they ended up leaving. They went to a different part of Minnesota shortly after, when the family kind of got broke up and the kids went to foster homes and stuff. So they kind of moved, eventually we went all over the country, and we had a travel trailer, so Mississippi, New Orleans, Florida, Tennessee.
So I got to live a lot of cool places when I was a kid. But we wound up in Arizona, where my adopted dad was a steel fitter, and he worked in Arizona, and so that's where I kind of grew up. I went to junior high, high school in Arizona.
And actually it was, you know, I knew that I was adopted and everything, but it was until I was a senior in high school, when my two oldest brothers actually searched the country for me, and they found me in Arizona, and they came out, and so we met for the first time.
And then after I was a cop in Mesa, Arizona, I was maybe on the department for about three years, I actually traveled back to Duluth, Minnesota, where all my brothers and sisters live. All eight of them still live in Duluth. And so for the first time, I met the whole family, all my brothers and sisters, and so we've been in touch ever since, pretty close.
Wendy Corr:
That's a fantastic, fantastic story, about your brothers finding you. That's great. Now, Mesa, Arizona, you ended up starting your career in law enforcement there in Arizona. What made you decide law enforcement was the direction you wanted to go? You'd been traveling the country with your parents. You landed there in Arizona. Your adopted dad was a steel fitter. Why law enforcement? What drew you to that?
Brian Kozak:
You know what? I think it was actually the TV show C.Hi.Ps. So I don't know if a lot of your viewers didn't even know what that is.
Wendy Corr:
Oh, man! Erik Estrada!
Brian Kozak:
So actually, I just love that show. I thought it would be so cool to be a motorcycle cop, you know, I just, of course, yeah, you want to help people and do things like that. But for me, it was driving fast with red lights on a motorcycle. I thought it was just the best thing ever. So that's what I wanted to do.
Wendy Corr:
What I think is really fun is, and anybody, if you've not been arrested in Cheyenne and gone to the Laramie County Detention Center, you might not have met Perry Rockvam, but Perry is there. He's one of the administrators at the jail. Is that correct?
Brian Kozak:
Yes, he is. He's the chief deputy. So when I became Sheriff, I asked him to join my team and to run the jail operations, Juvenile Services Center and court security. And so, first he was reluctant, but then I was pretty persuasive, because I actually went to his daughter, who lives here in Cheyenne, so I went to her house and said, Hey, your dad can move here from Billings, so I have a job for him. We just have to talk him into it. And so she put a lot of pressure on him.
Wendy Corr:
That's great. Well, talking about Perry Rockvam, we know Perry up here in Cody, because he was the police chief up here in Cody for a long time and and moved to Billings, and so now he's down there. But you and Perry were motorcycle cops together in Mesa, and that's the beginning of a decades long friendship.
Brian Kozak:
That's exactly right.
Wendy Corr:
Which I just think is fantastic, that that continues today, and you continue to work together, you found a way to work together again.
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, that's for sure. So yeah, we were both cops in Mesa. We were both motorcycle cops. We went to the motorcycle school together, and then he wanted to move. He didn't like raising a family in Phoenix because of the high crime and gang activity and stuff. So he moved to Cody to raise his family.
I stayed in Mesa. I retired there, and then he spent 20 years at the Cody Police Department. Became chief of police, and so when I came out here to be police chief in Cheyenne, we, you know, we connected again.
We'd see each other at conferences, and we'd go on motorcycle trips together. I’d go to Cody and stuff, and ride the Yellowstone area on our bikes. But, yeah, then he left law enforcement for about eight years, and he never thought he'd join, be back in it again, until you know you got that call from me.
Wendy Corr:
So apparently you're persuasive, and you know who to talk to, you know who to talk to. That persuasiveness has done wonders for you and for the departments that you work for and that you have led.
Let's talk just real quickly about some of the things when you were the police chief in Cheyenne, what are some of the things that you did there that you were really proud of that continues today?
Brian Kozak:
Well, I think, everything about the Cheyenne Police Department, I'm pretty proud of, you know, just their community interaction, the neighborhood night outs, the citizen police academies are still going today. The way that they look at data, crime data, and try to affect patrols and stuff to reduce crime by, you know, so all that stuff.
Yeah, I'm really proud of, the department has a good training program and stuff, still today, they recruit good candidates. So yep, so that that's what I'm proud of, yeah, just a good professional agency, really.
Wendy Corr:
Of course, now that you're back there in Cheyenne as the Laramie County Sheriff, I'm sure you do a lot of work with the Cheyenne Police Department.
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, we do. Not as much as I thought we would, but, but we do. For example, we're just starting to launch this summer, doing some proactive stuff together with our, we just formed a traffic team. They have a traffic squad, so they're gonna do things together to focus on red light enforcement in Cheyenne. So some good teamwork.
We're starting our detectives communicating a lot on solving cases, and then we're starting to do more stuff together on training as well. So we're starting to build that good relationship.
Wendy Corr:
That's fantastic. Very good. Let's transition then, here, to now. Here you are. You're back in Laramie County. You're back as the county sheriff. Tell us about - you came in with ideas. And you are implementing these ideas.
You have one of the most creative community relations programs that's out there. I mean, between YouTube videos and billboards for recruitment, things like that, you're really engaged with the community. And tell us some of the unique things that you said, “I want to do this if I ever get to be sheriff. This is what I want to do.”
Brian Kozak:
You know, when I came into Sheriff, I just wanted to make sure we were more engaged with the community. That was one of our goals, that we had to become engaged with the community, because I felt like the sheriff's office didn't really take that opportunity in the past. And so we really wanted to do that.
And so yeah, and then just along the way, we came up with some crazy ideas to try to do that. And then also we wanted to make sure we have a fun place to work, so letting the employees do what they think is good, to build those bonds with the community.
And sometimes, yeah, it gets a little crazy and funny, but that's what we want, because we want new candidates to look at our agency and say, well, that's the place I want to work. Seems like they have a good time there. So that was the goal.
Because when I started as Sheriff, I think there were 65 vacancies that we had to fill.
Wendy Corr:
Wow, where are you at now?
Brian Kozak:
So now we have, we have nine left in the jail, and we have three at court services. So yeah, but we've filled all the patrol spots. We've just about filled all of our jail spots now. So, that was our goal was to fill vacancies and so, and that's one way, is having a good community engagement platform.
Because the first thing new people look at when they're looking where to work, they're going to look at your social media, you know, they're going to look at YouTube, they're going to look at your website. So we had to make a professional looking website as well.
And we had to figure out what our culture was. Because when I started as sheriff, no one really knew what it was. So we formed, a got a bunch of employees together to first of all, create our mission statement, and then what our culture should be. And they really wanted to focus on a western heritage. And so we made this recruiting video, a 30 second video, I don't know if you saw where the Cowboys ride into the barn and then out the other side of the barn come the three deputy patrol vehicles.
And it just talks about the culture, the heritage of the law men of the West and so and so that's what we want. It was different from what all other police departments are doing on recruiting videos and so. And then we, the employees, came up with our mission statement, which is ride for the BRAND is one team to fight crime.
Wendy Corr:
BRAND is an acronym. Yes?
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, so it stands for brave, resilient, accountable, no nonsense, and dedicated. So that's the acronym. And so, like some of the words in there, no nonsense, you know, I kind of like that word, because it's like, we just want to get to business. We don't want to waste time. We want to do our job and do it right. And so, that, and that was the culture, like a western culture, we wanted to ride together to fight crime.
Because when I started as sheriff, it seemed like the jail employees, the deputies and the patrol deputies, like they weren't working together. There was like, one felt like they were better than the other. And so we changed the uniform so they're the same uniforms. The training is the same. And so now we're one team, you know, and just to create that culture, and also working with other departments too, is one team.
So working with the Cheyenne Police Department, working with the highway patrol and our DUI task forces that we launched, and so forth. So that's, that's the goal is, is with that.
And then just no nonsense. We want to be known for fighting crime, going out and getting criminals. We also started HIVE patrols, and we put it on social media, which is high visible enforcement, for traffic enforcement.
Because when I campaigned for sheriff, I heard from the community that we never see deputies, and yeah, people are speeding, people are running red lights, and it seems like law enforcement doesn't care. So we wanted to change that. So we've become known as a department that focuses on traffic safety, and we want to reduce traffic crashes and work as one team to get criminals off the street.
And unfortunately, when I first came into the office, the jail had a policy where they would not take certain offenses into the jail. So yeah, and I think as a result, crime actually went up in the city of Cheyenne
Wendy Corr:
Which offenses?
Brian Kozak:
Like property crime. So it had to be a violent crime to take someone to jail. And so we changed that. We said, you can bring anyone you want to jail. And so that's why, that's one reason we put the vacancy sign up, the flashing vacancy sign, so everyone knows we're open. We have vacancies?
Wendy Corr:
Fantastic. Yeah, I'm going to point our viewers here, and our listeners, our videography team, fantastic videography team. Reilly Strand and Hannah Brock went and did a long form video and followed the sheriff around for a day and went to the jail, which I thought was fantastic. How many people get to see inside the jail? Unless you've been arrested, you don't want that, but that's one of the things that was so interesting.
You've got a flashing vacancy sign at the jail. You play like Plinko. What is that about? And one of the inmates drops the Plinko button. And what is that all about? Tell us about that.
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, of course, everyone knows the Plinko game from the Price is Right, yeah, where you drop the disc and it goes down at the bottom and you win some prizes. So we did the same thing. We call it Clinko, though, you know, like, of course, the clink.
And so we have wanted fugitives at the bottom, and you drop the coin, and then the fugitive it lands on is the one that we put on our most wanted list, and then that's who our deputies focus on to go, go find. And it turns out, I didn't think it would happen, but the inmates actually, they have fun with it. So they all watch YouTube to see who's going to be on Clinko. And we've actually had some people turn themselves in as a result.
Wendy Corr:
No way! So you can see the tangible results of the things that you're doing.
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, for sure. Yep. So far, since we've been doing the most wanted list and the Clinko game, I think it's about 140 most wanted people we've apprehended put in our jail. So yeah, it does work. And as a result, our crime rate has gone way down, because we've been focusing on getting the people who caused the crime, bringing them into the criminal justice system through our jail. And so it's paying off.
Wendy Corr:
Is that one of your goals in your time here, Sheriff? You want to make sure that that crime rate goes down, that people in Laramie County feel safe? I'm assuming that that's your ultimate goal.
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, absolutely. That's probably our first priority. You know, that should be our number one priority as any law enforcement agencies, to focus on the crime numbers. And so, yeah, we've done that because, to be honest with you, at one point, the city of Cheyenne had the highest increase in auto thefts in any other place in the country.
And part of that was because of the policies of the sheriff, you know, previous to me coming in. So as a result, working hard, working together as a team, going after the criminals, now we're well below the US average, again, where it should be.
Wendy Corr:
Laramie County is such a large county, you've got a number of much smaller municipalities, it's more than just Cheyenne. In what ways are you and your team making sure that all of these outlying communities feel just as protected and just as much part of your department as as Cheyenne?
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, so that's a good question, because when I became Sheriff, we heard from the community, they didn't feel like they saw deputies out in the rural areas. So we implemented a couple programs right away. Number one, I think, is the most important, a school resource deputy program, and so we assign School Resource deputies to Burns High School and Pine Bluffs High School, which, you know, are the very outskirts of our county, in the east part of the county.
And so that that really has helped to build that bond and connection with the community there. And then we also made a couple rural deputy positions. So there's one in the West County, and there's one in the East County as well.
So someone's driving up on me. Hi, hey, how you doing? This trailer right over here? Then, yeah, huh, yeah, let me I'm on the phone call with someone. Can I come over there when I'm done? Okay, I'll see you right over there. Thanks.
Wendy Corr:
This is your job.
Brian Kozak:
That's right.
Wendy Corr:
And so people, that's the great thing, though. You're right there. You're in Burns. And so the people there, they see the sheriff's vehicle, and they say, Hey, I've got a problem. I'm just going to go talk to the guy in the vehicle there. That's Wyoming. That's the way.
Brian Kozak:
Yeah. And so that's the focus. So we pushed our deputies back out into the rural areas, and it's been working good. So the community likes that interaction. And then we also, we attend all the special events, you know, the events in Pine Bluffs, Burns, Albin, you know that's a small farming community, that said they never saw a deputy ever.
And you know, last time I was there, they're like, You know what, Sheriff, I think we're, we're seeing too many deputies now. I kind of like the freedom out here. But no, they were just joking.
Wendy Corr:
And you don't get a whole lot of trouble from those communities, obviously, but it's good to know that you're there if they need you.
Speaker 2 22:26
Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah. We have very little issues out here, but especially our rural deputy program, the job of the rural deputy is basically get to know all the ranchers and farmers and go have coffee with them, and that's it. They just like building the relationships.
Wendy Corr:
It's an important relationship, because that's the kind of relationship we all want with our law enforcement professionals in our communities. We want them to be part of our community. We want them to be the people that we can call on if we have trouble, but people who actually, genuinely care about my well being, and not just somebody in a uniform sitting in a car.
Brian Kozak:
Yep, correct.
Wendy Corr:
So let's just real quickly, kind of wrap up here, because you're a busy guy, let's talk real quickly about, what are some of the things that you still have left to implement? What are some ideas that you've got in the near future for ways to engage with your community, the ways to make it safer?
I love the way that you interact with the prisoners at the jail, and you make them feel like human beings. What are some of the ways that you're continuing to do these things? And what are some of your plans?
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, one of the big things that we're getting ready to launch is our special management unit in the jail, which is going to be a mental health pod. So we have designed and built a mental health pod, women's and men's pod, especially designed to, I guess, deal with management issues.
When we launch it, we'll bring the media in to look at it, but it's got a mirror on the outside rec area. It just doesn't look like a jail. We have different barriers in place so that we can allow people out of their cell and then start to build relationships with some of the other inmates that are in the cell next to them.
So these are people suffering from mental illness that really, we shouldn't have them in the jail, but the state hospital is so backed up, we have these people for sometimes up to two years, and so we worked for some psychiatrists to design this pod to better manage these people.
And hopefully, the goal is to get them to take their medication and help them overcome the mental illness that they're having so they can deal with their criminal charges, because sometimes the criminal justice is put on hold until they are deemed to be competent to stand trial or to enter into plea negotiation.
So unfortunately, we're the ones that have to deal with those people and try to help them. So we're really proactive in that area. I can't wait till we launch that. We're all done with the construction. We're just building the policies right now and training the employees to to handle that special management unit.
Wendy Corr:
And that training is what is so important. I mean, I worked with the criminal justice system in Cody for years, because I was the municipal court clerk, and so I know about the training issues that have to happen for the people who have the mental illness, because your deputies and these law enforcement professionals are the ones that are on the front lines. They're the ones that go to the incidents that are happening while they're happening.
And so is that something, that obviously has got to be a big deal for you and for your department, is making sure that those trainings are happening as timely as possible.
Brian Kozak:
Yep, that’s for sure. And that's another thing we did. We created a professional standards unit, so we have a sergeant, a deputy, and then we have three civilian employees, so they do all the hiring background investigations, you know, all the people we've hired.
And then they're also responsible for planning our training programs out, and so they have a training program built out for the next two years. So really proactive in that area, hiring, bringing people in. So my first year in office, I think, was 72 people we hired. Last year, it was 50 people we hired in just one year.
And then our attrition rates have gone way down. They used to be 25% a year is how many people we would leak. And now we're at 8% and a lot of those because of retirements, or they get into the jail and they realize it's just not the job that they're meant to have.
But yeah, 8% is good. It's better than most law enforcement agencies. So we're doing really good in that area. Now, the billboard really helped to bring people in.
Wendy Corr:
You’ve got the billboard. You’ve got to talk about the billboard.
Brian Kozak:
So the billboard. We put up a billboard in Denver that said, ‘Work in Wyoming, where breaking the law is still illegal.’ And so that just caught the attention nationally. I think, you know, a couple major news networks covered it. For example, Fox news.com, it was the number one trending story on their website for two days in a row.
And so that just brought in thousands of applications for us. And so we were able to fill our patrol positions, mostly with ladder officers from other states, California, Colorado, Mississippi, yeah, all over the place.
Wendy Corr:
And all your people, I'm sure, are very happy being in Wyoming.
Brian Kozak:
Yeah, they are. So again, you know that that's because they're frustrated where they're working. They feel like law enforcement's not supported. And when they saw the billboard, they're like, well, there's a community that supports law enforcement, so that's why they wanted to work here. And yeah, we did poke fun at Denver a little bit, which is fun. They deserve it.
Wendy Corr:
That’s from somebody who's got a daughter living in Colorado, right?
Brian Kozak:
I do. I have a daughter who lives in Denver. She works at Denver Health, the emergency department there, and, yeah, so she's a nurse there, and she definitely sees it on a daily basis where the cops can't do their job, and it affects her in the hospital because of that.
But so, yeah, it was funny. And still today, whenever I travel, anyone from the Laramie County Sheriff's Office goes to a conference or training elsewhere, you know, we're known as the billboard Sheriff.
Wendy Corr:
That's great. I just think it's wonderful what you've done, obviously your work is paying off, lower crime rates, better recruitment, better retention, and so the idea that you have more wonderful things to come for your department, for your communities that you serve, is just fantastic.
Brian, I know that you've got things to do, because we got interrupted by somebody who's got something for you to take a look at and something to address. So we're going to let you go do your job. Sheriff Brian Kozak, thank you so much for being part of the Roundup and for sharing some of your time with us today and giving us insight into your view on law enforcement and on Wyoming.
Brian Kozak:
Well, thank you very much for the invite. So yep, we'll catch up with you later.
Wendy Corr:
That sounds great. Folks, thank you for tuning in to the Roundup. If you have an idea for somebody really interesting that you think we really need to get here on the Roundup, please let us know. Until then, tune in next week. Go back to previous episodes. We've got such great people here in the cowboy state, like Sheriff Brian Kozak, that we love to highlight. So enjoy this episode. We're glad you are with us. Come back next week. Have a great week.
