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It's often said that first responders wear many hats, or in Lawrence Police Ofc. Anthony Harvey's case, many shoes.
If you see him out in public, don't be surprised to see him sporting some stylish kicks... something that's part fashion sense/part icebreaker.
"It gets the conversation started," he told me.
As a self-professed sneakerhead, it's fitting Harvey started a nonprofit five years ago called Kicks 4 Kids. Roughly 350 pairs of new shoes are given away each year to kids in Douglas County through the nonprofit.
"That’s my thing," Harvey said. "I’m from Lawrence. I want to make it a better place, and I’ll do what I have to do to make that happen."
So he slips from one role and pair of shoes to another to make that happen.
Police work
Take, for example, his role with the Lawrence Police Department. As he laces up his work boots each night, he prepares himself for a job where anything can happen.
"I was just conducting a routine patrol, and I think it was past midnight ... a car was doing about 70 mph past me on Tennessee Street. By the time I get behind him and turn my lights on, he’s a full city block ahead of me," Harvey recalled. "So, I did what I could to get back closer to the car safely. Eventually, they just kept going through red lights southbound until they got to 19th and Massachusetts. And anybody that knows Lawrence, 19th and Mass going straight, you’re going to take this dip, even if you’re going 30 mph. He took it going 70, went airborne a little bit. Sparks flew, and he hit about five cars."
Amazingly, the driver and his passenger survived with only minor injuries.
"We got some drugs, we got some guns, some other stuff off the street that night," Harvey said.
Other nights, like the one we spent riding around with him on duty, the stops aren't quite as dramatic.
In one case, he pulled over a woman who didn't realize her lights were off.
Instead of issuing a ticket, Harvey used the encounter to educate the driver. It's an approach he also uses at the Douglas County Juvenile Detention Center.
Mentoring
Once a week, Harvey walks into the juvenile detention center not as an officer, but as someone offering teens a chance to change their future through a mentoring program he founded called Forward Progress.
He pushes them to be better, he gives them goals, talks about their future and just reminds them that "where you are today is not where you’re going to be tomorrow," per Assistant Director Leigh Houseman.
Harvey has even recruited other members of the Lawrence Police Department as volunteers.
"He walks in, and their faces light up. And I could tell that was really genuine," said Corp. Maurice Henry. "And just the conversations he's able to have with these kids, they respect him, and you can see that from the moment he walks in."
It's apparent in the letters they wrote to the director of the detention center to share with us.
"'Harvey is like a brother to me and always makes sure that I’m doing good and I strive for greatness,'" Houseman read directly from one of the letters. "And on this one, 'It actually means something because he’s doing this all on his own time, asking for nothing in return, and it makes it feel real, and shows that we have someone in our corner unconditionally rooting for us.'"
And those aren't the only teens he's rooting for.
Coaching
In season, before his overnight shifts, you'll find Harvey on the hardwood of Lawrence High School's gym, coaching the boys varsity basketball team.
"The basketball side is great, but we want to make sure when they graduate, they’re set up in life to get a good job, go to college, just be a good source in the community," Harvey said.
When he gives his players advice on and off the floor, they listen because they know he's been in their shoes.
Playing days
"We had some really good seasons," Harvey said, pointing to a picture of him and his high school team in the school's trophy case outside the gym. "We went my junior year, we got second in state. My senior year, we got third in state."
After playing at the very school where he now coaches, he played college ball at Newman University in Wichita, where he was the team captain his last three years.
Besides perfecting his 3-point shot, Harvey believes his time on the court, in many ways, prepared him for police work.
"And it’s fun because I’m on a team still and I can still impact the community in a positive way," Harvey said.
That team player mentality hasn't gone unnoticed.
"He's a really special person. He's got a big heart for people, and it just comes through in his work every day," boasted Lawrence Chief of Police Rich Lockhart. "He’s wise beyond his years, and so I think that he's been blessed in that way, and he uses that skill to be able to move in whatever circle he’s in."
A mentor's influence
Surprisingly, though, this isn't a profession Harvey always aspired to.
"I used to be scared. I used to not like the police," he said. "I didn’t know much about the police before I met some of the SROs in Lawrence."
That included School Resource Officer and retired Lawrence Police Ofc. Myrone Grady, whom Harvey first met while he was a student at South Middle School, now Billy Mills Middle School.
"I mean, he’s the reason behind this job," Harvey said. "He’s the person that gave me the confidence to want to be a cop."
We stopped by Billy Mills Middle School to take a walk down memory lane with the man Harvey calls his mentor.
"This is the South Hall of Fame. There’s our guest of honor, Mr. Harvey," Grady noted, pointing to a picture of Harvey among other former notable students and staff. "He played a little football, basketball, and was just a good, ornery little middle school student."
Grady admitted that at the time, he had no idea Harvey would one day follow in his footsteps.
"I’m not surprised," Grady said. "But no, I didn’t know that he would end up being a cop and doing the same things that he’s doing and making that impact in the community in the way that he has. [I'm] super proud of him, though."
Next steps
As for Harvey, he told us he hoped to follow Grady's lead by eventually becoming an SRO.
Just weeks after we first interviewed him for this story, we learned Chief Lockhart surprised Harvey by announcing that dream will come true next year.
But really, those who know him aren't shocked because, as the saying goes, "If the shoe fits."
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