By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The Hays police and fire departments will be able to purchase equipment and establish foundations thanks to a gift from a Hays man.
Jack M. Samples, 90, passed away Jan. 30, and in April, his estate donated $155,287 to the Hays Police Department and $37,999 to the Hays Fire Department.
The largest portion of the police department's gift — $47,000 — will be used to purchase new patrol weapons with mounted optics.
The department is requesting to transition to a pistol-mounted optic system as the primary sighting technology on all department-issued handguns. The technology is more accurate than the iron sights on pistols used currently.
"It's not a new technology, and we already have mounted optic systems on all our rifles," Chief Don Scheibler told Hays city commissioners.
The current trend in law enforcement is to transition to pistol-mounted optics, Scheibler said. The Kansas Highway Patrol is in the transition process, and the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office is also planning to purchase pistol-mounted optics, he said.
Scheibler also requested to purchase four rifle-rated ballistic shields at a cost of $23,000.
This will allow for a ballistic shield to be stored in each patrol supervisor vehicle and ensure that a shield is always on the street and available to on-duty officers.
"Ballistic shields will allow us to better protect our employees, better protect our community. So far this year, there have been over 450 mass shootings in the United States. It's not a matter of if, but when, this event is going to happen," Scheibler said.
In addition to active shooter incidents, the shields would be used on calls such as building searches, shots fired investigations, armed subjects and other common patrol calls.
"For just a very small amount of money, it'll increase the safety of our officers a great deal," he said.
A new Hays Police Department Foundation would be established with $40,000 in partnership with the Heartland Community Foundation.
"This would allow us to receive funds and focus on new projects that we can't use budgeted funds for," Scheibler said.
The department plans to use $20,000 to partner with the Fort Hays State University Foundation and establish an endowed scholarship for the FHSU Department of Criminal Justice program.
The scholarship fund will help FHSU students pursuing a career in law enforcement obtain their criminal justice degrees and help the police department recruit new police officers.
"We like to call the criminal justice department 'the farm.' We continue to harvest employees from out there," Scheibler said. "We think this will be a real investment in the future."
$5,000 will go toward updating the Hays Police Department Challenge Coin, which has an old logo. Local officers carry the small coin to promote morale.
The remaining $20,287.65 will be allocated to the Public Safety Equipment Fund to be used for equipment needs in the future.
The Hays Fire Department also plans to partner with the Heartland Community Foundation and will use $25,000 to establish the Hays Firefighters Endowment Fund.
The fund will provide scholarship opportunities for the children of active uniformed members and grandchildren of retired uniformed members who spent 20 years or more serving the city of Hays. The scholarship will also be available for Hays residents seeking an associate degree in fire science at a Kansas community college.
Both foundations would be entities people can utilize for financial donations to the two departments.
Fire Chief Ryan Hagans said his department will use the remaining $12,900 to purchase new fire attack hoses and nozzles.
Samples graduated from Hays High School in 1950 and attended one year of college at Fort Hays Kansas State College. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served two years in the Korean War. Samples worked for about 30 years as an office and field clerk for Skelly Oil Co., Getty Oil Co. and Texaco.