Tori Lemon
Lantern Staff
Whether Jason Kenney is flying over Turkey or sitting in the Public Safety building at Butler’s El Dorado campus, he always has the same goal in mind: to inspire, encourage and motivate the students and the community.
Kenney has been a public safety officer for one year, and this is first job since he graduated from the program at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson.
“It’s 14 weeks filled with information about law and criminal procedure,” Kenney said. “They teach you the hands on stuff like traffic stops, how to drive a vehicle fast in traffic and firearms training.”
Kenney’s journey of finding a fitting job where he could help impact and improve the lives of others started in the United States Air Force.
“I joined the military because I was out of high school, I had a kid and needed a job,” he said. “The Air Force is a little more technical, and they had the survival and rescue squad I wanted to be apart of.”
The Air Force gave him the opportunity to travel to many places, including Turkey where he did refueling as a flyer and France.
“If you threw a dart at a map, wherever it would land, I’ve probably been there,” he said. “I really got to see the world during that time.”
After being in the service for 24 years, he decided to make impacts closer to home. He opened up a boxing gym in Wichita, where he works with kids 10 and up, and professionals 18 and older.
“I fought for years and got old and started hurting, so I decided to teach it,” Kenney said. “I’ve owned that gym for six years now. I’ve had guys fight on HBO and Showtime. We’ve been all over the world, too (such as) Germany, Las Vegas, everywhere.”
Kenney combines all he has learned from the Air Force, the academy, his boxing gym and the things he’s learned from being a father, grandfather and husband, and lets it reflect in who he is as an officer.
“I think with society and the way it is now, some people look at cops as being the ‘bad guys,’” he said. “We’re just not. I can relate to kids that some people just can’t seem to reach out to. Tough kids, broken families, bad home lives–I can reach them. I can talk to them, and I can help them.”
Kenney takes a determined and optimistic approach to being one of Butler’s several police officers on campus. By being kind, stern and helpful, he hopes to continue to impact the people he meets for the better as well as helping to change the stigma that is surrounding cops today.
“It’s a hard time to be a cop right now, it really is,” Kenney said. “There’s a lot of sacrifices that come with this job. It seems like, for the most part, people never call you when they have a good day- it’s always something bad. You just try to absorb all of that bad and try to make good out of it- whatever it may be.”