![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bluekc.com\/blueprint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/AKB_0619-1024x681.jpg\")
\u201cIf I can get drunk drivers off the road, and I was able to do that, I love that,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m kind of in a position where I don\u2019t get to do that as much now, but to me, that\u2019s protecting everybody from every walk of life, because DWI impacts everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m actually the field sobriety instructor currently at the academy, so I\u2019m still very passionate about getting drunk drivers off the road.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s Department. She\u2019s the only one in that role, though the department is trying to expand the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She believes peer support is essential for the mental health of a first responder like herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always had a huge stigma in law enforcement,\u201d she said. \u201cAt the beginning of my career, you didn\u2019t talk about having problems and struggling with anything. You talked about all the cool stuff you got to do. But you didn\u2019t talk about how it impacted you. I think that\u2019s what we were missing as a career field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cComing from the peer perspective, you\u2019re talking with someone who has been vetted and is passionate about helping. That person isn\u2019t out to get you; it\u2019s someone you can trust. Our department takes it very seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeer support is different than just sending somebody to therapy. They don\u2019t have to explain their job to me. They don\u2019t have to walk on eggshells and hope that they\u2019re not traumatizing me. They can be very real. They don\u2019t have to pretend that they\u2019re perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daugherty was helped early in her career by an organization called The Battle Within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was there in the very beginning when The Battle Within was created,\u201d she said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have staff come to me and say, \u2018I need Katie, not Lieutenant. I need to talk to you.\u2019 It\u2019s kind of a unique dynamic, but for me, knowing that someone trusts me enough to come to me with those issues, it\u2019s very selfish, but that means the world to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She gets emotional when talking about receiving the \u201cBlue KC Answering the Call\u201d award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t do this for the acknowledgement, but \u2018words of affirmation\u2019 is my love language,\u201d she said. \u201cMy son and my husband are going to be there, so it means a lot that they\u2019re going to be able to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
Blue KC supports the Kansas City community through impactful sports partnership programs<\/h3>
Blue KC Answering the Call Program<\/p> <\/div>\n