I'm Back...

Would you believe I was kidnapped and held hostage?  Would you believe my dog ate my blog notes (yep…every week for the past few months)?  I wish I had a great story on why I have not been posting these past two months, but the simple truth is it has taken a little more than I thought to settle in to my new job.  Meetings here and there, budgets to discuss and present, you know…the administrative stuff.  But things have calmed down and I can turn my attention to my blog.

I promised a look inside the Shawnee Police Department; and so I will start blogging at the end of the week to catch everyone up on what’s been going on.  This week our monthly department newsletter came out.  I wrote a bit about how historically the officers of the Shawnee Police Department have always had a zero tolerance for crime and bad actors in our community.  This type of attitude was most evident lately in a few instances of great police work by our members.  Recent examples like a road patrol officer tracking down and arresting a burglary suspect living in Shawnee; another road patrol officer obtaining a confession on a Missouri homicide case over the phone; and two road patrol officers driving to Kansas City, Kansas to arrest a domestic violence suspect who had just committed a crime against an ex-girlfriend.  These are just a few general cases of great police work that goes on in the background every day at the Shawnee Police Department.  This commitment to making of community safe makes me proud to be associated with such a great group of individuals.

Remembering Don Gamblin

Twenty years ago this past Wednesday, July 13, Shawnee Police Officer Donald Gamblin was killed by a drug impaired driver on Northbound I-435 Freeway, north of the West 51 Street Overpass.  Don was a motorcycle officer and he had a vehicle stopped on the outside lane shoulder when his motorcycle was first struck; then him, killing him instantly; and then the vehicle he had stopped, injuring all of the occupants. Don was the first, and thank God, the only Shawnee police officer killed in the line of duty.

This past Wednesday morning, members of the Shawnee Police Department, the City of Shawnee, Don's family, and others remembered Don during a ceremony at the Shawnee Protectors Monument located in front of the Shawnee Fire Safety Center.  Deputy Chief Rob Moser led the ceremony, and Mayor Jeff Meyers and Don’s widow, Ana Gamblin-Martens spoke.  The Shawnee Police Honor Guard brought the ceremony to an end with a twenty-one gun salute and the playing of Taps.

Don – We miss you and may you rest in peace always.