Shawnee's Citizens' Police Academy 2011

This week we re-instituted our Citizens’ Police Academy.  It has been about twelve years since we last held this academy.  Various reasons were the cause for not programing this training, but most recently it was because of budget concerns.  We have talked about resurrecting the program in the past; and after becoming Chief, my staff and I made it a priority. We are saving overtime costs by having the commanders present as much information as possible, and the hourly staff are flexing their schedules.  Our Planning and Research Manager Greg Collins and Lieutenant Doug Orbin did the lion's share of planning to make this training happen.

The Citizens’ Police Academy is an opportunity for members of our community to see and experience the role of the law enforcement officer at a deeper level.  Participants in the academy will meet and interact with officers and see how the members of the Shawnee Police Department work to maintain a safe community for all who live in, work in, or visit Shawnee.  Over eight weeks, twenty women and men participating in this year’s academy will be presented information about the history of the Shawnee Police Department, police officer ethics, patrol operations, investigative procedures, support services operations, and many more topics.  A big hit from past academies is the day they meet at a local firearms range to fire the various less-lethal and lethal weapons we use to perform our jobs.

This year’s participants include two members of the Shawnee City Council, residents of Shawnee, and individuals who work at businesses in Shawnee.  One of the participants is a daughter of a retired Shawnee police officer who said she would like to follow her father’s footsteps and become a police officer in the future.  Isn't that too cool???

Master Police Officer Michael Sedars - August 24, 1981 to September 19, 2011

Last Friday, we had a great time sending off Mike Sedars at his retirement reception.  After thirty years, Monday, September 19, 2011, will be Mike's last day as a Shawnee police officer. During his years at Shawnee PD, Mike served as a field training officer, tactical team member; and in January 2002, he became a member of the department’s newly formed Traffic Safety Unit, and that is where he served out the rest of his career.  When I came on in 1987, everyone told me to look for Mike if I had any questions about traffic crash investigations.  They said he was the department’s crash investigations expert.  Throughout the past 25 years, I have come to know why everyone looks to Mike for help.  Mike would put aside anything he was doing to explain how to perform a crash investigative task, or in most cases, he would do the work for us.  Mike is a shining example of an officer who puts others before himself.  He is one of the reasons why the Shawnee Police Department is a great law enforcement organization.

Mike - Thanks for your dedicated service to your fellow officers, the City, and  Community of Shawnee; and all the agencies around us that you have assisted throughout your honorable career.  Have fun and enjoy your well-deserved retirement.

9/11/01 - Never Forget

Who doesn’t remember what they were doing on September 11th, 2001, around eight o’clock in the morning.  I had just left home with my wife Deb to drive her to KCI where she would board a plane to Chicago to attend a conference when we first heard the news on the radio that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers in New York City.  Minutes later came news that a second plane had stuck another World Trade Center tower, and now these actions were suspected to be acts of terrorism.  Soon the radio station reported that all airplane flights in America were grounded immediately, so we returned home and turned on the television to see the shocking video replays of the United Airlines commercial jets flying right into the sides of the North and South Twin Towers, and then as each tower collapsed to the ground.  Later it was learned that another commercial airliner had struck the Pentagon, and a fourth had crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.  Those are memories of chaos like I have ever experienced and ones I surely will never forget.

In the hours and days after the crashes, we learned of the bravery of the emergency services and security personnel, and other nameless heroes who gave their lives trying to protect and save others.  Today we remember all of those nearly 3,000 fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and other loved ones and dear friends lost as the result of those tragic events.   

That terrible day too was the deadliest day in US law enforcement history.  Of those lost that day, and in the days and years later, 72 brave law enforcement officers unselfishly have given  their lives as the result of those attacks in the service of their community.  Like other emergency services workers and the unnamed heroes who died during and after the terrorists attacks, these 72 courageous souls ran towards the danger with their brothers and sisters when most ran away.

Today we honor all of those who performed selfless acts of heroism on that fateful day.  On every September 11th, let us remember to commemorate in our own time, in the lives of our children, and in future generations – the stories and the memories of those we lost on that day and ensure that they will never be forgotten.

This morning, Deb and I, Major Moser, Captain Hisle, Captain Tennis, and Lieutenant Brim and his wife Shelee attended services at the Cross Points Church at their invitation.  This afternoon, members of the Irish American Club of Johnson County hosted a First Responders Picnic at Fire Station 72 for the Shawnee emergency services workers and their families.  Both events were fantastic and I very much appreciate the acts of kindness by both organizations on this special day of remembrance.

Cops and Robbers

This week was a busy one in Shawnee. We have been looking for a gentleman wanted for an aggravation robbery of a liquor store a couple of weeks ago. Robbery is a crime where one individual takes something from another individual by the use of force. The crime becomes aggravated when a weapon is used. Anyway…a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper kicked this guy’s car up on Friday midday and tried to stop him as he drove west on Shawnee Mission Parkway, but he got away…briefly. The robber ditched his car and took off on foot into a heavily wooded section of western Shawnee. A large-scaled manhunt ensued and lasted for several hours through 100° heat, but it was closed down several hours later after we failed to find him. But…because of some great police work earlier in the week, sources led us to him that evening where he was taken into custody without incident. Chalk one up for the good guys.

Speaking of good guys, Johnson County law enforcement has a ton of them. Unlike several other metropolitan areas in the Country, Johnson County police officers work very well together. Officers from Lenexa, Olathe, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, KHP, and even the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force were working alongside Shawnee officers searching for this guy in the woods. This type of cooperation goes on behind the scenes every day between the uniformed officers, detectives, commanders, police chiefs and the Sheriff.