DPS Team Members of the Month
August Sworn Team Member of the Month
Jesse D. Procknow
Corporal
Missouri State Highway Patrol
August Non-Sworn Team Member of the Month
Kevin Tweedy
Commander, Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team
State Emergency Management Agency
Jesse D. Procknow, a Corporal with Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop C in Weldon Spring, is the DPS Sworn Team Member of the Month for August 2026, for his outstanding work to locate and apprehend a suspected child predator and rescue an 11-year-old girl he was transporting.
On January 25, 2026, Jesse positioned his patrol vehicle to monitor traffic entering St. Louis County from Illinois after the Jersey County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office reported a suspected sex offender was believed to be transporting an 11-year-old victim into Missouri. Jesse spotted and stopped the suspect vehicle and interviewed the child, who had met the suspect on the Snapchat app. During the interview, Jesse utilized Patrol Interdiction for the Protection of Children training troopers receive and noticed signs of possible grooming and trauma bonding with the suspect. He arrested the suspect for a traffic violation. The Jersey County Sheriff’s Office pursued criminal charges in Illinois. The child was reunited with her mother. Jesse’s swift action and interviewing skills likely helped end the sexual abuse of a child and prevented further victims from abuse.
The charges are mere accusation and not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
Kevin Tweedy, Commander of the Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MO DMAT-1), is the DPS Non-Sworn Team Member of the Month for August 2026, for his remarkable planning and management of MO DMAT-1 for the team’s FIFA World Cup operations in Kansas City. In addition, when a skydiving plane crashed in Butler, Mo., on June 14, killing 12 people, Kevin quickly pivoted and led members of the Missouri Mortuary Operations Response Team (MO MORT-1) to assist local officials at the scene with victim identification and transport.
The six-week Kansas City FIFA deployment was MO DMAT-1’s largest ever, including a total of 24 treatment beds, and required two years of planning. There was a medical treatment site at Arrowhead Stadium, two at Fan Fest, one at Kansas City Power and Light and one at a local hotel, all at the request of the Kansas City Fire Department to prevent excessive strain on the region’s healthcare system. During the deployment, 277 patients were treated over the course of 22 days of operations.
Kevin is responsible for building and coordinating a rostered team of almost 300 medical professionals, which includes physicians, along with planning, logistics, operations and other specialized personnel. MO DMAT-1 utilized a total of 120 team members over the course of the event, including 25 for setup and teardown of six tents, two command trailers and two rapid response trailers.
MO MORT-1 was prepared for the deployment to the plane crash site because Kevin had the foresight to include a fully equipped mortuary response trailer in the equipment transported to Kansas City. It meant Kevin, a paramedic and former coroner, and other team members were able to immediately respond to Butler from Kansas City upon receiving a request, and efficiently provided assistance with the mass fatality incident.
Congratulations to both Team Members of the Month! You have set an outstanding example for your co-workers throughout the Department of Public Safety.
The Missouri Department of Public Safety. Many Missions. One Team.