2025 Blue KC Answering the Call Honoree Katie Daugherty
Katie Daugherty knew as a freshman in high school that she wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement. It’s a career she’s had now for 17 years, and she says that the job is still fulfilling for her.
Daugherty grew up in Chillicothe, MO, where she had a positive interaction with law enforcement that made a big impact on her. She went on multiple ride-alongs while in high school. As soon as she graduated, she enrolled in the Missouri Western State University Law Enforcement Academy in St. Joseph, Mo.
Katie is now a lieutenant with the Platte County Sherriff’s Department, leading a staff of 45 at the Platte County Jail, overseeing around 300 inmates. Because of her work in law enforcement, she is the August recipient of the “Blue KC Answering the Call” award, sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City and benefitting The Battle Within.
The Battle Within is an organization that helps former military personnel and first responders like Daugherty cope with the sometimes-hidden trauma of their careers.
Through the years, Daugherty has worked on patrol, in the jail and even in animal control, which she called “a nice break from the craziness of the world.”
When she was on patrol for the Sherriff’s Department, she led the department in DWI arrests for six consecutive years.
“If I can get drunk drivers off the road, and I was able to do that, I love that,” she said. “I’m kind of in a position where I don’t get to do that as much now, but to me, that’s protecting everybody from every walk of life, because DWI impacts everyone.
“I’m actually the field sobriety instructor currently at the academy, so I’m still very passionate about getting drunk drivers off the road.”
But what really gets her charged up is helping her fellow law enforcement officers. She currently serves as the peer support specialist for the Platte County Sheriff’s Department. She’s the only one in that role, though the department is trying to expand the program.
She believes peer support is essential for the mental health of a first responder like herself.
“We’ve always had a huge stigma in law enforcement,” she said. “At the beginning of my career, you didn’t talk about having problems and struggling with anything. You talked about all the cool stuff you got to do. But you didn’t talk about how it impacted you. I think that’s what we were missing as a career field.
“Coming from the peer perspective, you’re talking with someone who has been vetted and is passionate about helping. That person isn’t out to get you; it’s someone you can trust. Our department takes it very seriously.
“Peer support is different than just sending somebody to therapy. They don’t have to explain their job to me. They don’t have to walk on eggshells and hope that they’re not traumatizing me. They can be very real. They don’t have to pretend that they’re perfect.”
Daugherty was helped early in her career by an organization called The Battle Within.
“I was there in the very beginning when The Battle Within was created,” she said. “I actually spent a few years as the assistant program director for TBW, leading the work with female recipients and pouring into them, which I absolutely loved.”
In her current role, she takes what she learned with The Battle Within and puts her own stamp on it. Knowing someone came to her for support is huge.
“I have staff come to me and say, ‘I need Katie, not Lieutenant. I need to talk to you.’ It’s kind of a unique dynamic, but for me, knowing that someone trusts me enough to come to me with those issues, it’s very selfish, but that means the world to me.”
She gets emotional when talking about receiving the “Blue KC Answering the Call” award.
“I don’t do this for the acknowledgement, but ‘words of affirmation’ is my love language,” she said. “My son and my husband are going to be there, so it means a lot that they’re going to be able to see that.”
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