KANSAS CITY, Mo. — We know sometimes the news can feel heavy, and at times it can feel like there are a number of issues that can divide us.
So, each week through the end of the year, we're taking time to focus on the positive, passing the mic to people in our community who are making a difference, sometimes in unique ways.
This week we're sharing the voice of a Kansas City, Missouri, police officer who's always been a team player, first on the football field, then as an advocate for at-risk kids in the Kansas City area.
KCPD Ofc. Brandon Walker's story
Get Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department Ofc. Brandon Walker around a group of teens, and he's in his element — smiling, laughing and listening.
The only place he previously felt more at home was on the football field, learning to love the sport at an early age.
"I always loved the teamwork, the team aspect," Walker said. "I loved that it was me and my brothers and my cousins and family members playing."
From his time on the field at Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas, to the bright lights of Fort Scott Community College, to a starting position for Southern Illinois University, for years, the sport dominated his life, with hopes of turning pro.
"I had a few tryouts at a higher level with the NFL that didn’t progress, that didn’t pan out," he said. "But, I always had an option 'B,' you know? I always wanted to teach."
Brandon taught for three years, first at Fort Osage and then Grandview, before realizing he had another calling.
"Teaching is really what kind of gave me the inspiration for being a servant for our community," Walker said. "I had a lot of students — let's just say I had a lot of at-risk students."
But, he said his influence in the classroom only went so far.
So, he went back to the drawing board, and became a juvenile corrections officer in Johnson County to try to help some of those at-risk kids.
"I wanted to be a probation officer because I had a lot of kids when I was teaching that were on probation, so that’s where I was like, 'Man, I really want to work with kids. I want to really work with the worst of the worst, work with the kids everybody else has given up on,'" he emphatically explained.
It wasn't long till his efforts were noticed by members of the police department who started urging him to join their team.
So, once again, Walker opted for a different route, going to the KC Regional Police Academy before becoming an officer with KCPD in 2013.
Even in his new role, working with kids remained a priority.
"Me and my partner, you know, we did that, 'Let’s throw the football with the kids.' We did that every once in a while, but we went even more in-depth," Walker said. "Some of the parents would be like, 'You know JoJo didn’t do his homework,' or, you know, 'He's missing school.' So, we would get out of the car and talk to him, and tell him, 'Hey, you start doing better, maybe we’ll go to Sonic and grab a shake or something.'"
It wasn't long before he went from working with individual kids and their families while on patrol to working with larger groups of kids through the Police Athletic League, or PAL.
But when COVID-19 hit and put a halt to recreational sports, he found another way to help the kids connect, starting listening groups for students twice a week, something he views as one of his greatest career achievements.
"We would ask our kids, we'd say, 'What topics do y’all want to talk about? What’s going on with you? And how do you feel about it?'" Walker said. "So, we talked about everything from dating, to domestic violence, to nutrition — I mean whatever you could think of."
Meanwhile, Walker saw an opportunity to help area kids further, by raising money to help take these teens on trips out of the KC area.
"We got together, we took eight of our kids, we took them to St. Louis," he said. "One of the pieces of this was the kids were touching the arch and I'm sitting there with my shades on, I’m getting choked up. I’m like, 'Oh man, this is so dope."
From there, he also organized trips to Chicago and Las Vegas for a student leadership conference.
"We’re taking kids out of Kansas City and showing them something different," he said. "If my career stopped today, I’m telling you, I’ve got a 'W,' I’m good."
While he's not officially still with PAL, he still likes to stop in and check on the kids and help out.
He's also back in schools, talking to kids, in his latest role with KCPD, working as a recruiter to hopefully find more individuals like him with a passion for helping others.
"I love what I do," he said. "I’m very fortunate, super blessed to be in this opportunity."
It might not be the playbook he originally envisioned for himself back on the football fields of Wyandotte County.
But, at the same time, Walker says he can't imagine his life playing out any other way.
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