Inside Richmond: The City's Pulse

Episode 17 - Inside Richmond: The City’s Pulse | Training, Technology & Teamwork in Richmond Public Safety

• Kevin Shook • Episode 17

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In this powerful episode of Inside Richmond: The City’s Pulse, host Lindsay Darnell welcomes two of the city’s top leaders in public safety: Chief Kyle Weatherly of the Richmond Police Department and Chief Jeff Kinder of the Richmond Fire Department.

Chief Weatherly shares his lifelong commitment to service — from his time in the U.S. Army to his career in law enforcement — and explains how the camaraderie within the department and connections with the community have fueled his dedication. He talks about evidence-based policing, the importance of good old-fashioned boots-on-the-ground police work, and how initiatives like body cameras, crisis intervention training, and school partnerships are shaping a stronger, safer Richmond.

Chief Kinder brings his own unique story, from his early days in professional baseball to finding a true calling in the fire service. He discusses the department’s ongoing focus on training, from rope rescues and hazmat to confined space exercises, while also highlighting prevention and education efforts like Safety Village, where thousands of local children have learned life-saving fire safety skills. He also emphasizes the department’s outreach efforts, including career fairs, Special Olympics events, and collaborative community programs.

Together, the chiefs reveal how closely their departments work when responding to emergencies — from structure fires to hazardous materials incidents — and how joint training, clear communication, and mutual respect are essential to protecting lives and property. They also reflect on the importance of events like National Night Out and the Haunted House at the training center, which bring families face-to-face with first responders in a positive and engaging way.

Both leaders drive home one key message: Richmond’s police officers and firefighters are more united than ever, committed to serving the city 24/7, 365 days a year. They encourage residents to show kindness, care for their neighbors, and support the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to keep the community safe.

👉 Stay connected with your local first responders:

🚨 Interested in a career in public safety? Richmond is hiring! Visit RichmondIndiana.gov
to explore current opportunities with both the police and fire departments.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Inside Richmond, the City's Pulse. I'm Lindsay Darnell, your host, and today I have Kyle Weatherly, Chief of Police for the Richmond.

Speaker 3:

Police Department and Jeff Kinder, Chief of the Richmond Fire Department.

Speaker 1:

So, Chief Weatherly, what inspired you to serve in public safety?

Speaker 2:

So my entire adult life, with the exception of just a handful of years, has been in public safety in some aspect. Straight out of high school I was in the military, did a tour with the United States Army. Then, coming back, I've worked a few odd jobs before getting into law enforcement and since then it has been law enforcement my entire life. So being able to help people is a driving factor. The camaraderie within the police department, the connections that you make within the public itself police department the connections that you make within the public itself the family, the friends, all within the community and the agencies that you're a part of is a huge driving factor for me.

Speaker 1:

Okay, what about you, chief Kinder?

Speaker 3:

Well, there's a long version, a short version and I'll try to use the shortest version I can. After high school I got drafted and played in the Milky Brewers farm system as a baseball player and, coming with that, as a pitcher, and I enjoyed pitching in front of people and the pressures that come along with those things. During spring training, where the Chicago clubs play, there was the Phoenix Fire Department Training Center out behind one of the fields and I would watch them do their things and it was. It was intriguing to me. So when the baseball thing ended and the pursuit of that opened up here in Richmond, I went after that because the camaraderie, the team effort, the pressure, all those things that I liked out of the sports world, fit what I want to do in my professional world and that's how I got to this point.

Speaker 1:

That's amazing on both of your guys' side. You know, and I think you know, engaging with the community and helping when you can is very important and a passion that you have to have to have this role.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to start with you, asking you a couple of questions, and then we'll move on over to the fire department. What new initiatives or programs is the Richmond Police Department currently focusing on to improve community safety and engagement?

Speaker 2:

what we do. We try to go off of evidence-based practices, so we will utilize analytics and data to find something that is going to drive us to serve the community better. That is kind of how we go with the public safety aspect of it and we can break it down and probably bore everybody to death. And the best part of it is a lot of it is just good old-fashioned police work. It's boots on the ground, it's the police officers out doing what they do best. That is a lot of what we do on the front line.

Speaker 2:

Our patrol division does a great job under the leadership of Captain Kevin Smith. They are very driven to serve the community to the highest standards. Our investigation division they are making cases, they are getting warrants that are being put out off of good investigations and that division is led by Captain Andy Jury, who is doing an absolutely amazing job as well. And then you go into the engagement aspect of it, our PAC division, which is currently led with Detective Pat Tudor. He is active, active, active within the community. He is active, active, active within the community. If there is a public event, a lot of the times he's there. You will see him in the pack car out engaging with the community, with kids, introducing them to a different side of law enforcement, because a lot of what we do really depends on the assistance that we get from the community itself. It makes not just a case better when we get the community involved, it just all around. It makes the city better when each other or our citizens are looking out for one another.

Speaker 1:

I agree and you know, I think seeing Pat Tudor, Detective Tudor, out at a lot of these events, it's really building a trust with the community too. So they're not having this fear or, you know, think of police brutality, because that's not the case, that you know you guys get a lot of backlash, but that's not the case. You guys are really in it to protect the community and have that relationship with them.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. It's letting people see the other side of the badge.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so how is technology like body cameras or flock systems shaping the way you serve the community?

Speaker 2:

It's another tool. So in the past we went off of we'll go back many, many years ago where we went off of digital recorders where we would transcribe statements and stuff like that. Now we've gone into the digital era where we have cameras in our interview rooms, we have cameras on our persons, in our cars so many different tools that we have at our disposal. So with the body cams we will have video evidence that we can submit, along with the case report itself and other physical evidence that is collected, if it's available, to just help bolster and give the prosecutor's office a better case. So we can we can get convictions.

Speaker 1:

And I think those are very important too. You know, having that video recording is like right here it's. You know, we've laid out all of the ducks. There's no denying that. You know this was said or this happened. How is the department approaching mental health and crisis intervention for both community and for your officers?

Speaker 2:

So a lot of what we do is done through partnerships, so we've been able to partner with a lot of our resources here within the city itself to better serve the, the community and our officers. For mental health, we've established a training system for what is referred to as integrated communication and tactics, which is to make it a little bit easier to understand it's just talking to people that are having a mental health crisis. We were able to send three officers Lieutenant Brett Haskett, officer Tyler Saunders and Officer Tyler Smith to a train-the-trainer course where they were able to bring that information back to our agency and, as of today, to our agency. And, as of today, we're only one of a few handful of agencies in the state that actually use what we refer to as the ICAT, which is Integrated Communication and Tactics. That reduces so many things. That keeps the person in crisis safe, keeps our officers safe and it keeps our use of forces down, where we are able to communicate and help that person in crisis rather than go in and try and muscle them to get them services.

Speaker 1:

I think that's great that your department is able to do that and was able to get that training. What partnerships or programs are you developing with local schools, businesses or organizations to strengthen public safety?

Speaker 2:

So we work with, obviously with the Richmond Community Schools program as far as having our resource officers inside the school, and we're always looking to improve that. We communicate with one another regularly to try to find out what's working, what isn't working, and then what is working even though it's working we want to improve upon. Never be satisfied. Always look to make it better working. We want to improve upon. Never be satisfied, always look to make it better if we can. And then whatever isn't working, let's figure out why it's not working.

Speaker 2:

Same goes with with the rest of the community and the businesses within the community. We want to make sure that they have everything that they need to be successful within our community. A lot of times, what it is is they just need. They'll call and say, hey, could you give us a little bit extra attention? We're having some problems in this area at this time. It could be as simple as that. It could be as simple as explaining to them, if something happens during their business hours or after hours, the process in which they need to report that, or the people that they need to talk to to get that done. So it's just a matter of staying connected and really work with the business owners and the businesses within the community to make them feel safe and keep them a part of this community.

Speaker 1:

I think you guys have done an amazing job this past year and a half almost two years, since you've come into this role, of really amping up up, you know, trying to get more involved with the community and also being there and being seen where you know businesses might need you guys to kind of patrol at certain hours.

Speaker 3:

Yes, thank you, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So, Chief Kinder, on to you. What are some of the key initiatives Richmond Fire is working on right now, whether it's response times, training or community outreach?

Speaker 3:

Well, the big thing is the Richmond Fire Department is going through a transition. Over the last four or five years we've lost in retirement about 20 guys, so it's a lot of experience lost and so we've had some turnover. So hiring has been a big thing. Well, once we get the baseline set for each member of the fire department, then we have advanced training. So over the last six weeks we've had confined space training going on.

Speaker 3:

Today this whole week has been confined space. I got 15 members in confined space. Last week was rope rescue tech, which goes together with the confined space, and two weeks before that was hazmat, which is the technical level where they actually go in the suits and they do those things. So you know, training has been a big thing and Deputy Chief Greg Moore, the training chief, has done a fantastic job with all the trainings that we have to do to get these guys comfortable where they need to be for our response. That's a big thing that we've been going on. As far as outreach, we just had the high school today out at the fairgrounds. We were part of that the hiring process for all the high school juniors and seniors in the area. We also have a truck pull the 27th fire truck pull for the Special Olympics. For them, I mean, it's every day, we're every day Something's doing something.

Speaker 1:

How are you addressing prevention and education, helping residents stay safe before emergencies happen?

Speaker 3:

Well out at the safety village.

Speaker 3:

We've had over 7,000 kids go through that program and we're expecting another 1,400 this year and that's as ages 4 to 19 and they're taught fire safety and and fire recognition and pre-planning at home and emergency situations at home. For that stuff and to get used to, you know, being around because the firemen come in, they get to touch and feel us and see us in action, put our gear on and, you know, try to develop that part of it. From the the adult side of it, where we do fire extinguisher training for adults and especially people live in apartment buildings, just like that. You know work on their evacuation planning and work on planning and how to self you know their emergencies in that aspect of it. From the other part of it, we're in the buildings, inspecting them, making sure they're following their codes and if they're not following codes then we're readjusting and the firemen get to go in and tour buildings and familiarize themselves with possible things that we have to deal with and pre-planning. That's part of all the things that we do on a daily basis.

Speaker 1:

So, actually talking about an evacuation plan, I was talking to a firefighter it's probably been a couple months ago and he asked me. He said do you have an evacuation plan in your house and do you have a meetup spot? And I was like you know what? I've never done that. We've done that in school. We had fire drills, but I have never thought about doing a fire drill in my own home. So I thought that was really interesting to be taught, that that you really need to have that in the home, especially when you have children.

Speaker 3:

Well, we stress it at all levels, even from the commercial level If we have a fire in your building, there's evacuation plan for them and a staging area. Because that's the first thing we're going to ask is everybody out? Is everybody accounted for? It's the same thing all the way down to the residential. Is mom and dad and the kids out? That's the first question that we're going to ask, because we'll do whatever we can to save that life, no matter what we're going to do it. And it's a lot easier knowing that everybody's safe, for our personal safety, because we'll risk a lot to save a lot. That's just the motto that we use.

Speaker 1:

Right. Lot to save a lot. That's just the motto that we use, Right? So how is Richmond Fire Department preparing for emerging challenges like industrial growth, extreme weather events or changes in building materials?

Speaker 3:

Well, the modern world a lot of modern things have happened and we are always pre-planning for, because a lot of our homes now are lightweight construction, so their failure time, as far as burn time before failure, is a lot faster than the older homes. Obviously, you go on the road. Now we have electric vehicles. That's a whole different battle that we have to address and deal with from that standpoint, how if we have to deal with those kind of accidents, fires that come along with those things. So we're always I mean every day we're always looking at ways, best ways, best practices, putting in our training, researching it to make sure the best thing we do because obviously seeing safety and our personal safety is first and then how we deal with those situations.

Speaker 1:

And then, what steps are being taken to support firefighter wellness and resilience, given the physical and emotional demands of the job?

Speaker 3:

Well, it's one of the things that we're always, we always pay attention. We always pay attention to that. I mean, we allow our guys to work out for physical fitness to help. Hopefully that you know that stress relief is for the physical fitness. In any call that we have that is deemed to be a high level call, we're we're always given the opportunity for some kind of stress debriefing.

Speaker 3:

Um, you know, the, the, the, the tough guy mentality that I came on and with 30 years ago isn't that way. We're more apt to open up and communicate and we have, you know, through our the, the international fire association, there's avenues that way, and then the through the city policy, there Association, there's avenues that way, and then through the city policy, there's things they can do that way. But it's all about opportunity for them, because I can't make you do anything. I want to lead you through it and you know I can use my experience as a 30-year firefighter to say, hey, these things matter, you need to do these things, and so that helps when you have senior leadership helping you with those things. But the opportunity is always there for them, in whatever capacity they need. We're always there because my motto is I work for them and I want them to feel as safe as with me and our administration and the city's well-being is most important.

Speaker 1:

I agree. So I want to kind of talk about how you guys collaborate during calls. So when a major call comes in, like a car accident, a structure fire or a hazardous material situation, how do the police and fire departments coordinate efforts on the ground?

Speaker 3:

Well, it depends on the call. That's the first thing, because you know, if we use 70 as an example, it's a highway accident and you know, depending on that call, if it's a semi or it was a hazmat incident, what's that call going to be. It dictates what's going to happen, because once that happens, we send an IC, which is an incident commander, onto that scene and that scene. He's going to command that scene and he's going to say I need this, this, this, this, and we may need police to shut down the road or start evacuating the area in those natures. And that's kind of how it's through communications process and, like I said, we're basically based on military anyway. So how our command structures work, it works well with both parties.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I'll say on the police side when we get there whether again it's like Jeff said, it depends on the call. So on a traffic accident, if we're there before the fire department, then we are going to park a vehicle that is going to make that scene safe. So it's all about scene safety, not just for the officers and the firefighters but for the people involved as well. So it really just depends. And then again, kind of like what Jeff said, we go through communications and then usually with RPD and RFD, we are so close to the vicinity that usually we're getting there. Our scene commander is speaking to one another, communicating to make sure that they everybody has the resources that they need yeah, so it's not just one.

Speaker 1:

One department is taking care of all of it, especially when you need safety. You guys really work as a team. You know you're not separate and you are separate departments, but on these situations you guys really do pull together and have that teamwork.

Speaker 3:

Well, I can use I mean a fire. A few years ago, northwest S Fire, that was a 14 acre fire. That span of control was out even for what the fire department could do. You know, we could try to contain the fire, but when we started saying we need evacuations, we have to rely on police, and then that's got to be coordinated because you know the the NIMS, that we use the command structure. I see we use the fire department's been doing it my whole career. It's kind of a newer because their officers are more in their car by themselves a lot. So having an on-scene commander, you know, like I said, when that happens they all start communicating, which makes it efficient.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so what systems or protocols are in place to make sure communication is clear between your teams during high-stress calls? I feel like you've kind of already gone over that. So you do have those commanders there. So can you share an example of?

Speaker 3:

a recent call where police and fire worked especially closely together, I can say not. I mean just two nights or three nights ago we had a fire on Northwest Eye, yeah, and it was a fully involved structure, fire, possible entrapment. We didn't know. And, like I said, once we got there and started doing our thing, the police were trying to go to the next doors and say, hey, we've got fire, we have to get back, you know, get them awake and all that stuff. And then they have to block traffic because you know, once that scene gets set we're not moving. So we, you know those kind of things happen on a routine basis.

Speaker 1:

How do you train together to prepare for joint responses?

Speaker 2:

The beauty of what we have here in town is we have the training center uh. So uh, kind of like what jeff was talking about with the physical fitness uh aspect of things. We we do the same thing with the police department and those. They're training together in that aspect of it, and then when it comes to bigger scale events, we have round tables we can do those. Then we have just, I know, for a lot of our active shooter stuff. We will bring in the fire department, we will do active shooter drills. There's just so many different things because we never know what to expect. So we want to train for the worst and hope for the best. So the the things that we don't want to happen we have to train for, and we have to do that together.

Speaker 1:

Now I want to say about a year ago you guys had a mock casualty training and I think you guys were both working together on that training, where you had the helicopters come in, you had police there, you had fires.

Speaker 3:

In my career, probably in the last 10 years, we've probably been through four or five of those at schools, you know, down at the training center. They've done it down at the training center. It's a worst-case scenario thing for us, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I kind of want to talk about community and future focus. How do both departments engage with the community outside of emergencies? I kind of want to talk about National Night Out. You guys got together. This was a police department event, but fire department was there. Can you guys want to talk a little bit about that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it is. It's a national campaign for the police department, but with with National Night Out, it's a community event. We want fire. We want all agencies. I mean Sheriff's Department was there, all the town agencies, volunteer fire departments, lifeline was there. We were lucky enough to get them to come in. This is for the community. This is for the community. We want to give them the opportunity to come in, have fun, get to know a lot of the officers and the firefighters, not just from here, but being active in our community.

Speaker 3:

And tagging with that, you know, giving us the opportunity to, because we got to do the waterslide stuff, which was a hit, a big hit for everybody, and even the adults wanted to do it. So the kids in this get to come out and play a little bit too with us and we get to be real to the people. They get to see us and touch us and realize we're just real people, just like they are. We just got a job to do and getting the kids and all the things that come along with that. It's just that's what it's all about.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I agree, we went and our youngest, my five-year-old, had a blast, not just on the water slide, but all of the events that you guys. You had face painting there, you had the bounce houses there, you had hot dogs and hamburgers, chips and water. I mean it was amazing. The lifeline was a big hit. I did not realize how much wind a helicopter puts off when you're standing that close. It was kind of shocking. I've never been that close to a helicopter, so it was a fun event. I mean I really encourage the community to get out there next year when you guys hold it again.

Speaker 3:

Well, that's that part of that communication because, like you know, we're used to letting helicopters. We know how to do it all the time. I mean we do it all the time. Police don't do it as much as we do. So when they said we need a helicopter, I'll do this, this, this. It makes it simple for them, and we had to make sure the space was measured out so we didn't blow the tents away, and there's things that come along with that.

Speaker 1:

But, like I said those things, that's using our strengths. So, looking ahead, what collaborative initiatives are you most excited about? Do you think it would be the National night out when it comes to community engagement?

Speaker 2:

So I'm going to put a plug for Detective Tudor out there. We've got our Halloween haunted house coming up here next month, so that'll be down at the training center again. I know Jeff has already talked to Detective Tugger a little bit about that. So I know we've got some different ideas to bring in some other partners to get them more involved. So it's going to be another tremendous, tremendous night because I know there's a lot of people excited about this. So it'll be another event for the community that Detective Tudor and many others are looking forward to. So that's just a plug for the haunted house, and a lot of it is. What we're looking forward to is just serving our community, the city of Richmond. We have the luxury of having some of the best police officers and firefighters in the area I mean ever. They care about the community that they live in, they are proud to serve. So it's all about being present for our community.

Speaker 1:

And I was going to say that I have noticed that the compassion that the police department, the police officers and the fire department, the firefighters, have for the community, it's outstanding. It's even shocked me to see that compassion.

Speaker 3:

It's always about relationships. It always comes down to relationships and even between police and fire. I've been on for 30 years and when I started, police and fire were yeah, we were here, but today we were more in common and closer than we've ever been. Not that we have to train and do everything together, but the political societies we're living in, the political times we're living in, you know, we're kind of. We respect each other. That's. What really matters is we have that ultimate respect for each other and to do our duties and get the things done in our community and those beliefs.

Speaker 1:

And I will say I did hear so many good things about the haunted house, how it was such a big hit. I couldn't take my five-year-old. When I had talked to Detective Tudor. He's like, oh no, I don't think he's ready. He was four at the time and he was like it's not for the little kids, it's more for the bigger kids. So this is something to get the teenagers out and to enjoy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it is geared more for the older kids, but we do have some great events going on for the younger kids. I know we have Trick or Treat at Safety Village, we have Trick or Treat out the Parks Department, then the Citywide Trick or Treat. So this is. There's just so much to do, uh, especially coming up next month I'm. There's so many good places that you can go and and the kids can trick-or-treat and be involved. Uh, I know the veterans park. I just got some information now that, uh, they're going to have a trunk or treat down there. So, coming up on some fun times within the city it's going to be great.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I do want to make the announcement to you guys that the citywide trick-or-treat will be on Friday, october 31st, from 6 pm to 8 pm. We will be advertising that more on our social media media, but I've had a few people ask me. I didn't want to put the information out too early in case there might have been changes, but we did finalize that. Um, so I I do have one more question with community and future focus is how can residents of Richmond support the work you're doing, both individually and as a community?

Speaker 3:

well, for me, the community, they, the community, they're the first call. They make the call, I mean because we're emergency services. We come when the bell rings in our community. They're the first call. So you know, once we get that and you know, don't walk away for something. You know, stay with us a little bit. You know, understand, we're coming and we're always going to be coming and that's why the community know that we're always going to be coming, 24 hours a day, 365. We're coming every time.

Speaker 2:

I just throw out there. Just be kind, care about one another, care about your neighbor, care about the officer that comes. You know we are coming to do a service. So you know, if you don't like what they have to say, it may be because that we are kind of bound by the law that's there. So it's not that they don't care about the person and the problem that they're having. It's just there's only so much that they can do. They can't go beyond the scope of the authority that they've been given. So you know it's all about caring about people and that's the message that we need to push Just care about one another.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I agree, I think we need to do that. It seems like, as you know, we have been progressing and you know our generation's getting older. The younger generation coming in, they seem to be kind of not so worried about their neighbor. You know they've got their friends so worried about their neighbor. You know they've got their friends. And I've noticed, you know, neighbors don't say hi to each other anymore just in my neighborhood. And I think it is really important to be kind and be kind to your neighbor and care.

Speaker 1:

If you see something, say something Absolutely so. In closing, if you could leave our listeners with one message about the partnership between Richmond Police and Fire, what would it be?

Speaker 3:

I think I just said it. We're 24-7, 365. We're coming, no matter what it is. We're going to come in and mitigate whatever is in front of us every day.

Speaker 2:

And we're here to serve the city. That's what we do. We're united to protect citizens of the city of Richmond. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Well, guys, I think this was really great information to get out and to kind of see how you guys collaborate. I want to thank you guys for joining me.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having us. Thank you, lindsay for having us.

Speaker 1:

Yes, so that's Inside Richmond, the city's pulse. Join us next time Inside Richmond.