Jackson County Sheriffs Office grows more diverse under first elected black sheriff [Video]

JACKSON COUNTY, Mo. (KCTV) – What started as a conversation with a police officer on the street decades ago, guided Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forte on his first steps to pursue a career in law enforcement and make history in Jackson County. 

Sheriff Forte can still recall as a child watching police attack civil rights protestors in 1968. He drew a picture of that, which his family kept over the years. But after encountering a gun-wielding criminal as he got older, he was motivated to be part of the change by joining the force to protect and serve everyone. 

“I watched the military-type vehicles drive down the street on Prospect,” Sheriff Forte remembered. “I saw stores on fire. That motivated me I think. I talked to a police officer at the corner of 76th and Monroe and that’s when I knew for sure I wanted to be in law enforcement.”

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