OSAGE COUNTY  — Osage County Sheriff Mike Bonham saw the importance of protecting first responders after Hermann Det. Sgt. Griffith was killed last year, and began working with SafetyNet of Missouri, an organization dedicated to providing peace of mind to survivors of emergency personnel killed in the line of duty.

“It is my hope that we will never need the assistance of Safety Net, but it will be there if the unthinkable happens,” said Bonham, who first heard of the group in 2018 when a Miller County deputy was killed in a vehicular crash. “This will not cost the county anything but may give Osage County first responders a peace of mind.”

Bonham noted he heard how SafetyNet came to the family’s side. “I asked Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler for his help in becoming a part of SafetyNet and he did not think that it would be possible,” Bonham added.

Bonham contacted Back Stoppers in St Louis about becoming part of their organization, but Bonham said they did not want to come out this far. 

SafetyNet contacted Bonham three weeks ago and informed him the organization was ready to include Osage County. “At the board meeting I was asked if I wanted to become a board member, to which I agreed,” said Bonham. “Since I started this project, I felt it only right I see it through by being on the board. I will be looking for volunteer first responders to join me on the board.”

SafetyNet President John Stransky said the organization is proud to welcome Sheriff Bonham to the board of directors. “He brings with him not only years of dedication and service, but also a community of support with the aim to help foster the aid we bring to surviving families of line-of-duty death of a law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMT or corrections officers,” said Stransky.

SafetyNet of Missouri, which covers first responders in Boone, Camden, Callaway, Cole, Miller, and Morgan counties, and now Osage County, offers the service at no charge to the county or individuals.

Within days of a line-of-duty death of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, EMT, or corrections officer, his or her family receives a $5,000 check from SafetyNet with assurance of further help.

“Our mission is to provide needed support and financial assistance to the spouses and children of local law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs and correction officers who have lost their lives performing their duties,” reads SafetyNet’s mission statement at https://safetynetmo.org.

Further help includes the assumption of financial obligations (mortgage and automobile payments, credit card debt, loan debt, taxes, insurance, etc.) as funding permits, along with health and dental insurance, if needed, educational assistance for grades K–12, college/vocational tuition assistance to spouse/survivors, and miscellaneous assistance as approved by board of directors (i.e., home repairs, unusual medical expenses, etc.).

Operating on income from donations and fundraising, SafetyNet puts on a Casino Night, golf tournament, and a “Guns and Hoses” event.

Linn Police Chief Sam Ford is grateful to see this development. “I have six officers in my department,” he said. “Several are young and starting families. This program is a blessing to any family that would experience such a loss. I commend our sheriff for not only educating our first responders to the program, but for taking such an active role.”

Seven fire departments in Osage County include 175 firefighters, and 911 has 13 dispatchers.

The last first responder to die in the line of duty was Linn volunteer firefighter Fred Otto, who died while helping with a fire in Jefferson City. Bonham said that to his knowledge, law enforcement has never lost a deputy or city officer in Osage County.