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The 19th superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol comes to the job with 32 years of law enforcement experience. Col. Bryan Waugh spent the last six years as Police Chief in Kearney. Nebraska Public Media’s Dale Johnson asked Waugh how it feels going from policing 34,000 people in a community to overseeing a statewide law enforcement agency in charge of protecting 2 million people.
Bryan Waugh: My training, experience and education have prepared me for this opportunity, and I believe leadership knows no bounds when it comes to the size of the organization or the population of the city or state or town or county that you're serving in. So I think with my preparation through my entire career, I think my reputation and the decisions that I've made that led me to this opportunity will allow me to hopefully succeed and gain the trust and the respect and the credibility of those that I've been given the honor to lead.
Dale Johnson: Your resume also shows that you have law enforcement experience in La Vista and time spent in the U.S. Air Force. Thank you very much for your service. Did the military influence you in any way into law enforcement?
Waugh: Of course. So a little bit of backstory with that. So I'm a I grew up in West Virginia, a small town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the time I graduated high school, I wasn't quite certain what I was going to do with my life, as most high school graduates are, I went to college, thought I wanted to be a civil engineer. I'm still interested in that particular subject matter, but I was influenced by a mentor of mine who worked at a grocery store. The manager there at the grocery store thought I would make a good police officer, and so I'm not the typical police officer who wanted to get into the profession their entire life. So I joined the Air Force, and I joined the Air Force and I entered into the profession of policing, law enforcement specialist. I got stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, and there's where I think the light bulb went off, and my career aspirations continued into city policing. So I transferred, obviously, I was honorably discharged from the Air Force and was hired with the La Vista Police Department. So absolutely I believe, the experience I have with the military, the experience I have with La Vista police in a metropolitan area, the experience that I have with being a police chief in Kearney, Nebraska and central Nebraska have all uniquely positioned me for this next chapter in my career, which is leading the Nebraska State Patrol.
Johnson: During your swearing in ceremony, you took the opportunity to mention that the number 100 is very important to you, and you have chosen a badge number 100. Talk about the reason why that's important to you.
Waugh: Of course, that's a great question. When I was promoted to sergeant in the La Vista Police Department, my district number was district 100. That is the designated district number for the on duty supervisor at the La Vista Police Department. I think it still is today. When I came to Nebraska State Patrol, I was given the opportunity to choose my badge number, which I thought was very special, so the number 100, was available, and it struck me as a great opportunity to let our staff know at the Nebraska State Patrol the incredible value of the leadership role of the police sergeant or the State Patrol sergeant In our sworn ranks, because that leader is daily interacting with our troopers, interacting with our non-sworn professional staff. If they lead a group of non-sworn staff every day and they understand their needs, their wants, their challenges, and they are the voice, typically, that can help to steer positive change in any organization.
Johnson: You're a graduate of the FBI Academy, joining the highest 1%, I believe, of all senior law enforcement officers around the world. Why was going through the academy important to you?
Waugh: Incredibly important. So I was given the opportunity to attend the FBI National Academy in 2016 session 263, and that's a 10-week in residence at Quantico, Virginia, at the FBI Academy, where you really get a chance to kind of disconnect from your primary responsibility at your agency and surround yourself with other leaders from across the United States as well as the world from other allied agencies with the FBI. And you learn a lot of higher-level leadership concepts, you learn a lot of higher-level operational concepts. You learn a lot of the importance and value of building professional relationships throughout your career and throughout the world. So that opportunity, I think, was another light bulb moment in my career, and that's when I realized that I wanted to entertain a police chief role or an executive leadership role in a law enforcement organization. And after that, after I graduated from the FBI National Academy, I continued to pursue my master's degree. I went to the University of Oklahoma for my master's degree, and that drew me to the position I was previously at with the city of Kearney.
Johnson: What's on your to do list? If you and I sat down, and we easily could, in a year, what would you like to have accomplished?
Waugh: It's a great question. I would even hope to accomplish this goal within the first six months, and it's real simple. I want to earn the trust. I want to earn the respect. I want to earn the credibility of the incredibly dedicated, committed men and women who are serving in Nebraska State Patrol. So I want to do that by leading by example. I want to do that by showing that I'm also dedicated and committed to our purpose. And our purpose is to provide first class, professional police public safety services throughout this entire state.
Johnson: Thank you for saying yes to this initial invitation and coming in. I appreciate that, and there will be other invitations.
Waugh: Anytime, Dale. It'd be my pleasure to visit with you again.
Johnson: The new superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol, Col. Bryan Waugh joining me for the conversation on Nebraska Public Media. I'm Dale Johnson.