City of Leawood Logo
Historic Oxford Schoolhouse Hosts Friday the Thirteenth Event - AUG. 13TH Friday, August 13 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Oxford Schoolhouse (Ironwoods Park, 147th & Mission Rd.).

Movie Night at Ironwoods Park - AUG. 13TH Friday, August 13 at 8:30 p.m. at Ironwoods Park (147th & Mission Rd.). Free admission.

Leawood Lightning Dive Team Wins MOKAN League Championship The Leawood Lightning Dive Team took first place at the MOKAN Dive League Championship on Monday, July 12 at Homestead Country Club.

Wings of Love Bird Show - AUG. 20TH Friday, August 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Leawood City Hall (Oak Room, 4800 Town Center Drive, Leawood, KS 66211).

Jazz Concert Series Sundays, August 22, 29 & September 5 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. at the Ironwoods Amphitheater at Ironwoods Park (147th & Mission Rd.).

Archive | More Events | View RSS Feed
 Police Department
  

All Point Bulletin... What's New

Yoder, Damron win department's top awards

Sergeant Kirt Yoder was chosen as the 2009 Leawood Police Officer of the Year and Dispatcher Greg Damron was chosen as the 2009 Civilian of the Year at the police department's annual awards dinner on Sunday, November 8th.

Sgt. Yoder was promoted to sergeant in March of this year and, in addition to supervising one of the three patrol crews, was also given the responsibility of supervising the police officer training program. In announcing Sgt. Yoder's award, Chief John Meier read from one of the nominations that "it is not uncommon for newly appointed sergeants to 'ease' into the position, as many of the responsibilities can be daunting. Kirt, however, saw this new position as an opportunity to revamp the entire officer training program. In order to do this, Kirt invested many hours researching new programs, not only through the internet, but also by visiting multiple departments outside the metro area. After this research he made a decision on which program he wanted to move toward and produced a proposal to do so (which was adopted). Although early into the program, it has already proven to be an improvement from the previous program."

In addition his supervisory responsibilities, Sgt. Yoder found time to again train and compete in the Guns N Hoses boxing event to benefit the SAFE organization, which provides money to the families of first responders killed in the line of duty as well as to support a number of the department's other charity works.

"In 2009, Kirt has continued to be one of the most driven employees at the department who is always looking for ways to not only improve his performance, but the department's as well," said his nominators.

In nominating his co-worker, Greg Damron, for the Civilian of the Year Award, Tim Klaassen noted that "while others talk about the extra mile being their standard, Greg puts that motto into practice. He is an invaluable resource for anything involving the CAD (computer aided dispatch) system and his Access program is a masterful work of his own design which eases the retrieval of information from several separate databases."

Besides his work within the city, it was noted that Damron has worked with the cities of Olathe, Shawnee and most recently Prairie Village on customizing their CAD systems within the Integraph Records Management system. He has also represented the communications unit in speaking to the Citizens Academy and served as a training officer for new communications officers.

"Besides all the work he does outside the duties of his job description," Klaassen continued, "Greg has set himself apart by his hard work, vast knowledge and winning attitude. He is a model employee who sets the standard to which others look."

Several other employees were also recognized at the dinner. Officer Randy Rausch received the Top Gun Award for having the best overall score on this year's firearms proficiency event; Cpl. Shane Chambers and MPO Jim Herman received Letters of Commendation for their efforts in assisting the department in selecting a new handgun; and Officers Robert Mahon and Blair Gordon received Physical Fitness awards for posting the highest percentages in the department's Cooper Institute-based physical fitness testing. Other employees were recognized for their years of service to the department: Kelly Ratliff for 25 years; Tim Anderson for 20 years; Ken Whiteside for 15 years; and Nancy Kelley, Laurie Saunders, Mahon and Yoder for 10 years of service.


Golfing next on Clodfelter's agenda

The Leawood Police Department celebrated a first on Thursday, Sept. 24, with the retirement of Rick Clodfelter. Rick, who retired after 24 years of service to the city, is the first officer to retire after a full career with the city. Two other officers, Jeff Culbertson and Carl Vineyard, medically retired in 2001.  

Rick joined the city in June of 1985 after eight years in the United States Marine Corps. During his tenure in Leawood he served as a patrolman; a traffic investigator in the traffic management division; a detective with several calls out on the Metro Squad; and, most recently, spent the last 10 years as a motorcycle officer after helping resurrect the unit in 1999. Along the way Rick also filled a number of auxiliary assignments: he twice filled in as the professional standards officer, helping to hire and equip officers; he was as a property room officer coordinating evidence; he spent time as a field training officer and later the field training supervisor; he was the coordinator of the department's VIPER program for response to active shooters; and he was a firearms armorer and a firing range officer.  

With his newly available free time, Rick is looking forward to working on his golf game and spending time with his granddaughter, Katelynn.


Bring Technology Onto the Beat

On the eve of his retirement, looking to sum up his 25 years of service to the City of Leawood and more than 30 years in law enforcement, Sgt. Tom Hogard summed up what he felt was both is greatest strength and his weakness. "I have a low tolerance for mediocrity," said Hogard, whose last day was Friday, March 27,2009. "Anything new, whether a technology or skill, to improve ourselves I was willing to look at it."

True to his own words, Sgt. Hogard brought a number of innovations to the police department during his tenure. First hired in January of 1984, he was the first to broach the idea of computerized reports for the department in 1985. Using a pair of Tandy 8088 processors he borrowed from the manager of a local Radio Shack, he showed police administrators how the department could join the age of computers.

Several years later, Sgt. Hogard was chosen to supervise the department's new traffic enforcement unit. Starting with himself and another officer in 1994, he built the unit which today includes three traffic officers in patrol cars and three police motorcyclists. Along the way, he was the first in the Kansas City area to introduce digital photography into crash documentation. The use of TOTAL stations to map crash scenes was another innovation that he was among the first to bring locally into the process of crash documentation.

"I've always been a technology guy and it just made so much sense," said Hogard, who has also seen lasers and other technology enter the profession.

Hogard's passion for traffic safety, and in particular DUI enforcement, reached outside the department as well. He first began teaching DUI enforcement at the Regional Police Academy in 1991 and in 1995 became a field sobriety test instructor. Sgt. Hogard has also served on the several state-wide groups regarding the issue of breath alcohol detection.


Retirement leads to Promotions

With Tom Hogard's retirement, Chief John Meier announced the promotion of three officers. Kirt Yoder was promoted to Sergeant, filling Sgt. Hogard's spot. Shane Chambers was promoted to Corporal and Tony Woollen was promoted to Master Patrol Officer.

Sgt. Yoder first joined the department in 1999. He has worked in both the Patrol Division and the Traffic Management Unit as a motorcycle officer. Sgt. Yoder will also supervise the department's field training program for new officers.

Cpl. Chambers joined the department in 2001 after several years with the Paola, KS, Police Department. He too has served in both the Patrol Division and Traffic Management Unit.

Since joining the department in 1992, MPO Woollen has worked as a DARE/School Resource Officer and as a Juvenile Detective in the Investigations Unit before rotating back to Patrol in 2008. As a Master Patrol Officer, Woollen will begin learning the responsibilities of a supervisor in the Leawood Police Department.


2008 Guns N Hoses

Leawood officers Anne Wagoner and Kirt Yoder show off the championship belts they earned at the 2008 Guns N' Hoses boxing event.

Leawood officers grab boxing belts

Making their formal boxing debuts, Anne Wagoner and Kirt Yoder both came away with championship belts at the Guns N' Hoses boxing event on Nov. 15, 2008.

Looking for a challenge, Wagoner and Yoder were two of many local police officers, fire fighters and emergency service personnel who volunteered to compete in annual Guns N' Hoses charity boxing event. Guns N' Hoses benefits S.A.F.E./Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment Fund, a Kansas City-metro area program that provides financial and emotional support to the families of emergency services personnel who have died while protecting our community and our citizens. The event also benefits area juvenile boxing programs.

Their championship journey started more than two months earlier when they began training for the event. To be considered for one of the slots on the final night, volunteers had to participate in a minimum number of conditioning and training sessions. Guiding the volunteer's development were trained fighters and coaches, who are also volunteers for the event.

On the big night, Wagoner was pitted against Johnson County Sheriff's Deputy Heather Weese. Yoder battled Overland Park Fire Fighter Danny Meeker, who had competed in several past Guns N' Hoses events. The fights consisted of three one-minute rounds following national amateur boxing regulations.


Officer published in U.S. Government Newsletter

Randy J. Wiler, DARE Officer and Community Policing Specialist, has again been published in a national publication regarding his fight against bullying. You can find this article under "Ask the Expert" section of the U.S. Government—Health Resource Services Administration (H.R.S.A.) Stop Bullying Now website.

Wiler is one of the first 20 people in the United States selected by Dr. Dan Olweus to become a national trainer for the Olweus Bullying Prevention Group. Wiler first began collecting information concerning bullying behaviors in 1992 and began developing his presentation in December 1993. He was first featured in Good Housekeeping magazine in an article entitled "Kids Who Terrorize Kids" and is the author of several bullying prevention publications, some of which are featured in the national Stop Bullying Now! outreach by H.R.S.A. He also wrote the bullying prevention curriculum in use world-wide by the D.A.R.E. program and was named as the 2006 D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year.


Bars and Stripes

Chief John Meier and the Leawood Police Department announced two promotions, effective July 7, 2008 and a third effective July 26, 2008.

Kevin Cauley was promoted to Lieutenant on July 7th and assigned as Operations Commander, overseeing the Patrol Division. Lt. Cauley joined the Leawood Police Department in 1992. Before pinning on the single bar of a lieutenant, he served as a Field Training Officer before being promoted to Sergeant in January of 2005.

Tim Anderson was promoted to Sergeant on the same day and replaced Cauley as the supervisor of one of the department's three patrol crews. Sgt. Anderson joined the Leawood Police Department as an Animal Control Officer in 1989 and advanced to a police officer position in 1991.

Kirt Yoder was promoted to Corporal in the Patrol Division, filling Anderson's position, on July 26th. Yoder joined the department in 1999 after four years as a deputy with the Johnson County Sheriff's Department.


Officer awarded department's Purple Heart

        Rausch car crash

Officer Randy Rausch's patrol car after it was struck by another motorist on I-435.

Officer Randy Rausch was awarded the Leawood Police Department's Purple Heart Award at the June 2, 2008, Leawood City Council meeting.

On the morning of December 8, 2007, Officer Rausch stopped on the shoulder of eastbound I-435 at State Line to assist a motorist that had slid off the icy highway. As he started to exit his patrol car, a second motorist lost control of his car and struck Officer Rausch's car, briefly knocking him unconscious. Officer Rausch spent a week in the hospital and more than four months away from work healing from the injuries he sustained. Officer Rausch is the second officer to receive the Purple Heart Award, designed to recognize employees who are seriously injured while performing their duties.


Officers receive awards for valor

Four Leawood Police Officers were recognized at the KMBC-TV9/Metropolitan Chiefs and Sheriffs Awards for Valor ceremony on November 14, 2007.

Officers Greg Turney and Ron Hulsey received the bronze award for valor. The two were involved in the pursuit and capture of three armed subjects who had been involved in several armed robberies in the area. Part of the chase took place in the storm drainage tunnels near the Grandview Triangle. Both officers, as well as Turney's K9 partner Rocco, were recognized with bronze awards for valor by the Kansas Peace Officers' Association earlier in 2007. Rocco was the first police canine to ever receive an award from the organization.

Sergeant Brad Robbins and Officer David Winders also received the bronze award for valor for their response to an armed disturbance in March 2007. In this incident, a subject was waving a gun in front of two innocent people. The officers forced their way into a home after the suspect fired a shot that just missed one of the people before he was taken into custody.


"Copsicles" take a plunge

2007 polar plunge

On February 3, 2007, an intrepid group of nine police officers participated in the Ninth Annual KC Polar Bear Plunge, a benefit for local Special Olympians. Braving temperatures below freezing and wind chills close to 0-degrees, the "Copsicles" plunged into Shawnee Mission Lake through a hole cut through the seven inches of ice. The nine who braved the elements included four who first represented the department in the event two years ago: Shawn Farris, John Freeman, Randy Rausch and Mark Chudik. This year they were joined by Kelly Ratliff, Joe Peeples, Anne Wagoner, Erik Butler and Jason Hudson. Together the nine raised more than $1,300 for Special Olympics.


Chief Mitchell bids Aloha after 30 years of service

When Sid Mitchell joined the police department on January 5, 1976, he never envisioned himself one day being its leader.

"When I started, I thought ‘If I can just make it to sergeant before I retire," said Mitchell, who retired on December 8, 2006, as the Chief of Police after 30 years of service to the residents of Leawood.

Mitchell was promoted to sergeant in 1980 and became Leawood's first DARE officer in 1989. In 1990 Mitchell was promoted to Captain and attended the 167th session of the FBI's National Academy, often considered the top law enforcement school in the nation. In August of 1998 he was appointed the city's seventh chief of police. During his career Mitchell received the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police Award for Valor twice, the Metro Chiefs and Sheriffs Association Award for Valor twice and the Leawood Police Lifesaving Award. He was honored as the Leawood Optimist Club's Officer of the Year and the department's Officer of the Year. Within the law enforcement community Mitchell was a president of the Kansas/Western Missouri Chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates, an organization of over 15,000 law enforcement leaders worldwide, and was sworn in July 2007 as the national president-elect. Mitchell was also one of the founders of Johnson County Supercops events, an interagency competition that raised funds for Kansas Special Olympics.


  Leawood officer chosen DARE Officer of the Year

Officer Randy Wiler of the Leawood Police Department was chosen as the International D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year for 2006. Officer Wiler, a member of the Leawood Police Department since 1990, was presented with this award on July 27, 2006, at the International D.A.R.E. Conference in Orlando, Fla.

A nationally recognized expert on bullying prevention, Officer Wiler completed two supplemental lessons to the D.A.R.E. curriculum on bullying prevention that were adopted by D.A.R.E. in January of 2006. This marks the first time that bullying prevention has been part of D.A.R.E. since it was begun in 1983.

"This is something that I've wanted to do (to include bullying prevention). D.A.R.E. has always been viewed as drug abuse resistance training but they've not had a violence prevention program. Now we have a delivery medium to reach more than 30 million kids annually," Wiler said of his new lesson plans.

Officer Wiler has been a D.A.R.E. instructor since 1989. In addition to his work with the D.A.R.E. program, Officer Wiler is the Director of the Kansas Bullying Prevention Association, which has trained more than 700 Kansas educators as trainers in his bullying prevention programs, and he is the vice president of the International Bullying Prevention Association.

 
Print NowPrinter Friendly Version | Disclaimer | Directions | Last Modified: 7/26/2010 9:31:32 AM | Portions of this site require Adobe Reader Portions of this site require Flash Player
Click for Directions to City Hall Police Department Homepage Fire Department Homepage Return to Homepage View Leawood Calendar of Events Find Contact Information Employees ONLY Job Openings Search Leawood.org