DPS Team Members of the Month
October Sworn Team Member of the Month
Brandon L. Harris
Corporal
Missouri State Highway Patrol
October Non-Sworn Team Member of the Month
Jessica Sexton
Deputy Preparedness Division Manager
Missouri State Emergency Management Agency
Brandon Harris, a corporal with the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Troop F in Jefferson City, is the DPS Sworn Team Member of the Month for October 2026, for his rapid and skillful response that ended a long vehicle pursuit of an armed driver wanted for homicide.
On May 7, 2026, Brandon was off duty after returning home from a full day’s assignment at a recruiting event at Lake of the Ozarks when he heard radio traffic about a pursuit involving Columbia Police and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office. They were attempting to apprehend a man wanted by the sheriff’s office for the killing of a relative. Brandon, still in uniform, immediately returned to duty and, catching up with the pursuit, quickly executed a tactical vehicle intervention (TVI). A TVI is a controlled maneuver in which a trooper pulls his or her vehicle alongside a fleeing vehicle and precisely bumps the rear quarter panel of the fleeing vehicle, causing it to spin out, ending the pursuit.
As the vehicle began to spin, the fleeing driver fired several rounds into Brandon’s patrol vehicle, causing Brandon to sustain minor injuries from glass fragments. The gunman was found deceased in his vehicle from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Brandon had quickly ended the risk posed by an armed homicide suspect involved in a vehicle pursuit that had traveled over 25 miles from Columbia to Randolph County. He demonstrated exceptional courage, disregarding the risks to himself and always maintaining his composure, despite this high-stress pursuit and even gunfire entering his vehicle.
Jessica Sexton, Deputy Preparedness Division Manager at the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, is the DPS Non-Sworn Team Member of the Month for October 2026, for her two years of exemplary work as SEMA’s lead planner for the FIFA World Cup matches and related events in Kansas City in June and July 2026.
Jessica’s role encompassed internal planning, coordination with other state departments, local agencies, FIFA, KC2026, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and numerous other partners for what was one of the longest lasting and most complex special events ever staged in Missouri. In the months leading up to the matches and Fan Festival, Jessica spent hundreds of hours building a seamless operational plan and helped train state team members for their responsibilities. During the five weeks that the State Emergency Operations Center was activated, Jessica committed to working 12-16 hour days to help ensure success.
In addition to changing World Cup activities and schedules, Jessica’s work had to be balanced with SEMA’s coordination of responses to severe weather events as well as the crash of a skydiving plane in Butler, Mo., that killed 12 people.
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.