JEFFERSON CITY — Maj. Travis Shaffer of the Osage County Sheriff’s Office graduated from Missouri Police Chiefs’ Command College last Friday morning. 

The six-month course is designed to provide advanced training for current and future law enforcement supervisors, commanders, chiefs and sheriffs. It offered courses in Criminal Justice Admin., Issues in Liability, Homeland Security, Personnel Management, Media relations, and Issues in Criminal Law.

While attending Command College, Shaffer found several ideas to incorporate into the Osage County Sheriff’s Office. 

With the use of a resource allocation spreadsheet, Shaffer was able to improve scheduling efficiency.

“The sheriff’s office studies details on crime frequency, employee performance, and other relevant trending data.” Shaffer said. “We use that data to ensure we are staffing the schedule appropriately, as it makes no sense to have most of your deputies working during non-peak hours. We want to tailor the schedule to peak call times, so we maintain adequate coverage.”

Based on the resource allocation model, Osage County should have 14.33 deputies. Currently, there are seven, including Shaffer, with one in training and one open position. The sheriff’s office takes a long-term approach to hiring, preferring to wait to fill the positions with deputies they feel are a good fit for the community and are likely to stay for a while. Pay is also an issue, with several surrounding counties offering significantly higher salaries.

Shaffer was also instrumental in transitioning the sheriff’s office from a 28-day rotation with changing shifts to a static schedule. 

“Officer wellbeing is a top priority, so the constant change to your sleep patterns is harmful to your health and work performance,” he said. “By making changes, hopefully, we can increase work performance. I want to ensure that our folks aren’t struggling physically, mentally, and emotionally because they’re not sleeping well. We also know that science now links numerous health issues to our quality of sleep. The risk of sleep apnea increases significantly in rotating shifts, so we’re trying to be smart on how we’re doing business.”

“This accomplishment marks a major milestone in Major Shaffer’s law enforcement career,” said Sheriff Mike Bonham. “We are confident that this achievement will elevate his performance and leadership in his current role, and we look forward to the continued positive impact he will make within our department and community.”

Major Shaffer was promoted from Capt. in January, and serves as Chief Deputy. As such, he supervises the jail administrator, patrol, and investigations. Major Shaffer serves as in several specialty training areas, such as firearms instruction, drone operations, and active shooter training.  

“When I came here, the sheriff already had a super robust active shooter program in place,” said Shaffer, adding that he and Det Sgt. Dennis Sutton teach Osage County deputies and those from other agencies in the active shooter training components.

Shaffer also serves as the liaison between the sheriff and area schools and performs the sheriff’s duties when Bonham is unavailable.

“The position is recognized in state statutes,” Bonham said. “So in my absence, he can do exactly the coroner’s duties if need be, because the statute says the sheriff or the chief deputy or undersheriff can step in and do that. I probably waited too long to move him up.”

Other in-house training will likely fall under Shaffer’s umbrella of responsibility as well, including the marine unit, tactics, and others as assigned. 

“It’s an important element because it takes a lot of money to send deputies to other places for training,” said Bonham. “We will continue to look for government grants and other ways to fund training, but it’s nice to have a training officer in our department. Travis is a big part of our success, and I expect him to do a good job.”

Shaffer will also be more involved in the budget process and will attend functions either alone or with Bonham, just to become familiar with them.

Shaffer started his law enforcement career, now in his 22nd year, in the Marine Corps, as a member of the military police for eight years. There, he advanced to the Accident Investigation Unit and then went on to become a military police instructor. He was a patrol deputy for Pulaski County from 2008-12 and a K-9 Handler for Waynesville Police Department from 2012-20, then a patrol supervisor for Waynesville from 2013-20. 

While working for Maries County, Shaffer met Sheriff Michael Bonham, who was serving as Chaplain. The two stayed in touch and their friendship grew. Shaffer was hired by the Osage County Sheriff’s Office in Jan. 2020.