Letter from the Chief of Police
The City of Leawood can trace some of its earliest roots to law enforcement. In 1922, a retired police officer from Oklahoma City, Oscar G. Lee, moved to Johnson County and purchased land between what is now 79th and 103rd Streets, State Line Road west to Belinder. Lee Boulevard, the street that cuts through this block and where the first city hall was built, still bears his name. The City of Leawood was incorporated in 1948 and the fledgling city established its own police department on January 18, 1949, when Robert E. Combs was chosen as the city’s first Chief of Police. The first officers were unpaid volunteers but by 1971, the city had hired paid patrol officers, growing to a staff of 14 officers under the command of Chief Martin J. Kelly. As the department celebrated 50 years in 1999, it had grown to 51 officers and 20 civilian professionals. Today the department is led by Chief Dale Finger, the city’s 10th Chief of Police, and is budgeted for 62 sworn officers and 22 civilian employees. Ten years ago the department moved south from Lee Boulevard to its present location at 4201 Town Center Drive where it shares a building with the Leawood Municipal Court. In 2023 the department celebrated the city’s 75th Anniversary with the anniversary badge featured on the cover.
Budget and Finances •
The department’s overall budget of $11.5 million represented 20% of the city’s overall budget of $66 million. The 2023 budget was a 2% decrease from the 2022 budget of $11.7 million.
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In 2023 the Police Department’s projected expenditures increased $986,790 or 9.2% due to planned wage and benefit changes planned to address the changing job market.
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The majority of the Police expenses were for its personnel ($9,577,032 or 83.3%) - 62 commissioned officers, 22 civilian personnel and .23 to cover two paid summer internships.
Calls for Service
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In 2023 there were 28,898 calls for service, a 6%
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As you might expect, Day Shift (7 a.m to 3 p.m.) continues to have the most activity.
Crime Statistics •
After a sharp uptick a year ago to 1.31, the Violent Crime rate per 1,000 residents in Leawood dropped in 2023 to 0.97. This statistic includes Assaults with a weapon, Battery, Homicides, Rapes and Robberies.
On Feb. 3, 2023, the Chase Bank at 119th
and Roe was robbed. The suspect was taken into custody within two hours due to a tremendous team effort by our outstanding dispatchers, crime analyst, patrol officers, supervisors, and detectives combined with a phenomenal partnership with our neighboring metro agencies.
On Nov. 22, a Leawood detective tracking a stolen car in Kansas City was shot at by the
suspect. No one was struck by the shots and the suspect was captured after a pursuit by KCPD officers responding to the area. Car thefts kept detectives busy with 86 taken in 2023. In November alone 11 cars were stolen—four from open garages and six others where keys or key fobs were left in the vehicles. Seven were recovered, but three were damaged in crashes prior to recovery.
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While vehicle thefts actually declined from a year ago, thefts from vehicles rose as roving groups of criminals targeted unlocked cars (58% of the cases reported) or those with valuables clearly visible. Burglaries also rose, but shopliftings and assault/batteries numbers declined.
The week of Sept. 19, 2023, marked the launch of the inaugural National CoResponderWeek. Our coresponder program, begun in 2017, is an invaluable asset for both our officers and the community we serve. Johnson County stands at the forefront of this advancing field, and we take immense pride in being a contributor to this outstanding program. Thank you to our co-responder, Amy Hennes! •
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Leawood’s Mental Health Co-Responder was called out to 101 calls in Leawood and made 154 additional follow-up contacts and 41 outreach visits to help those experiencing a mental health issue. The department responded to a total of 350 calls with a mental health element in 2023. Our Co-Responder program took a step forward in December when a second co-responder, Erin Barger, was hired.
The department once again teamed up with the Great Plains SPCA for the Puppy on Patrol program. One day each month we hosted a dog up for adoption, giving them a chance to escape the shelter for a day and possibly meet a new owner. Cora (left) helped greet visitors at the Records desk in June. •
Administrative Services Division Animal Control, Communications, Professional Standards, Public Service and Records Units Capt. Troy Osborn, Commander •
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In 2023, Leawood’s three Animal Control Officers (ACOs) returned 95 loose dogs to their owners, impounded 45 other dogs, conducted 69 home inspections for special animal permits, and investigated 19 dog bites. The ACOs presented several classes at the Kansas Animal Control Association conference. ACO Lewis is a board member and taught classes on aggressive dogs/officer safety and large animal operations. ACOs Webb (above, black sweatshirt) and Atzenweiler assisted with the hands-on workshop and Atzenweiler also presented a case study on a felony animal abuse case. • The Property Unit took in 1,521 different items as evidence or for safekeeping. This included several hundred bottles of stolen perfume valued at $36,923 that were recovered with a search warrant on a shoplifter’s car. The unit returned to owners or disposed of 2,518 items that were cleared for return by the courts.
The department’s recruiting efforts in 2023 attracted 187 applicants, 97 of whom took the first step of completing the written test. From this group, 67 individuals completed interviews and eventually 10 officers were hired, including Officers Chris Rakowski and Cameron Chandler, left, who attended the Johnson County Regional Police Academy. •
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The Police Records Unit processed 5,765 reports in 2023, down from 6,376 a year ago. While the overall number of reports was down, the number of open records requests was up and the unit fielded 1,008 requests. They also completed 563 background checks, took 276 sets of fingerprints for various applicants and assembled 140 charging packets for the District Attorney’s office, up from 127 in 2022.
The Police Communications Unit handled 38,952 phone calls during the year, a nearly 5% increase over the year before. This total included 9,384 calls to 9-1-1. Despite the volume of 9-1-1 calls, an average of 25 per day, the average wait time for a call to be answered was less than 1 second. 9-1-1 Volume by Month January February March April May June July August September October November December TOTAL
2023 673 707 798 873 973 998 814 774 746 749 595 684 9384
2022 675 666 719 715 827 818 827 811 844 853 769 830 9354
Operations Division Uniformed Patrol & K9 Capt. Kirt Yoder, Commander
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Traffic enforcement, whether in school zones or complaint areas, is a frequent part of Leawood officers’ shifts. Last year officers wrote 8,779 tickets and 7,440 warnings. The top violations are listed below. 3332 EXCEEDING MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT 1684 NO INSURANCE 713 EXPIRED TAG DRIVING WHILE CANCELLED, SUSPENDED OR RE285 VOKED 273 NO VALID DRIVER'S LICENSE 238 ADULT SEAT BELT 142 NO REGISTRATION 141 DISOBEY TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNAL - LEGEND RED 137 FAIL TO STOP/YIELD AT A STOP SIGN 131 NO DRIVER'S LICENSE IN POSSESSION
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On May 22nd, midnight shift officers were dispatched on a burglary alarm. Officer VanHarn arrived first and saw a subject inside with a flashlight. Other officers arrived to surround the home, which was unoccupied at the time. The burglar saw movement outside and tried to flee, but officers caught him after a short foot pursuit. The officers later found he had broken a kitchen window to enter the home and his car was found in the area with some stolen property already loaded inside.
Officers spent an extra 200 hours patrolling (in car and on foot) in the Town Center retail areas between Thanksgiving and New Years to ensure a safe shopping experience while rooting out criminal activity. The officers made 10 arrests in this time frame (5 for shoplifting, 1 for DUI). Our Patrol Training Officers spent 540 shifts, roughly 4,300 man hours, training 7 new officers in the agency’s on-the-job training program.
Support Services Division Community Education/DARE, Investigation & Traffic Management Units Capt. Brad Robbins, Commander •
The number of DUI crashes, such as this one in Hallbrook, continued to rise in 2023, as did the overall number of crashes.
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Traffic and Patrol officers participated in several grant funded Special Traffic Enforcement Project (STEP) patrols, spending 200.5 overtime hours patrolling for aggressive and impaired drivers. This effort generated 683 tickets in 541 traffic stops. The Investigations Unit worked 326 cases in 2023 and were able to close 214 of these, including 65 arrests. The six detectives also completed 17 employment background investigations.
Overseas scammer busted, money seized In late October, Det. Mark Teerink was able to trace a Leawood victim’s money stolen in an Internet scam through several cybercurrency clearinghouses until it landed in an account registered in Nigeria. Working with the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office and international law enforcement contacts he has made, Det. Teerink used a seizure warrant to return the victim’s money, more than $10,000, and identified a suspect. The suspect was later arrested and gave a confession to Nigerian detectives, including information on the compromised Facebook accounts he used to contact the victim. Throughout 2023 Det. Teerink was able to retrieve more than $127,000 in cryptocurrency stolen in scams and $1.6 million initially lost in a fraudulent wire transfer.
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The department’s Citizen Academy program, a 10 week look inside the agency, was so popular in 2023 that we ran two classes— one in the Spring (right) and a second in the Fall (above).
Our School Resource Officers last year taught 112 DARE classes with 211 program graduates, 30 Internet/computer safety courses, and took 49 reports. When they weren’t in the city’s schools, they coordinated our successful Citizen’s Academy classes and taught safety events such as the May bike rodeo for Cub Scout Pack 3010 (left), 8 crime prevention classes, 6 safe driver courses and a self defense class. •
Employee Recognition CODY MORSE Officer Cody Morse was named the Officer of the Year for 2023. The past year was busy for Morse, as he spent his first full year as a DARE/ School Resource Officer, took over the responsibility for the agency’s social media presence, and became a child passenger safety seat technician. He was also recognized with the department’s Lifesaving Award after providing CPR for a subject whose heart had stopped. “The Leawood Police Department has an outstanding team of employees, both officers and civilians, who work hard to keep the city a safe and desirable place to live and work. I am a small piece of the puzzle and appreciate the recognition from my coworkers and supervisors,” Morse said of receiving the award. Besides his work in the city’s schools Morse, who joined LPD in 2018, attends recruitment events; serves as a Peer Support Team and Honor Guard member; was the lead for the fall Citizen’s Police Academy and helps with the Open House and the Fishing Derby. ISABEL LARA Public Service Officer Isabel Lara was chosen as the Civilian Employee of the Year for 2023. This marks the second time she has been selected for this annual award, having also won in 2014. “No matter how many times I or any person is awarded Civilian of the Year, it’s always a special moment, but being appreciated is a greater achievement for me personally,” Lara said of the award. PSO Lara, who joined the department in February of 2012, is the department’s primary property and evidence clerk, responsible for the secure handling and storage of thousands of items a year. In addition to her role in the property room, PSO Lara has had to step in and fill a void coordinating vehicle maintenance, transferring intercity mail and other duties. These roles keep her extremely busy, but her quality of work and attention to detail has not faded. She has also assisted coworkers with Spanish translations, helped staff the DEA drug take-back events, and assisted the employee support committee.
Employee of the Quarter honorees
First Quarter Trey Richardson
Second Quarter Riley Hulse
Third Quarter Tommie Eisenhut
Fourth Quarter Aaron Gray
Employee Recognition Chief Dale Finger was recognized as the Clarence M. Kelley Award winner. The award recognizes a criminal justice administrator who best exemplifies former FBI Director and KCMO PD Police Chief Clarence M. Kelley’s commitment to improving the profession and the community. Chief Finger was congratulated by Retired Leawood Police Chief Steve Cox, a KC Crime Commission member and the 1995 winner of the award. •
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Capt. Kirt Yoder, far right, received his certificate from Director Christopher Wray after his graduation from the FBI National Academy, class 286. Officer Andrew Bacon, Fire Dept. Capt. Kurt Neis, Officer Trey Richardson, Cpl. Robert Mahon and Officer Mark Chudik in May received KDOT Safety Awards for their roles in a Nov. 2022 event when they pulled a woman from a burning car after a violent crash. •
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Officer Morgan VanHarn, right, was recognized after she set a new record for overall average score in the department’s Cooper-based physical fitness test. Officer Chantelle Dietz (below, left to right), Officer Jesse Nash, Cpl. Jesse Ryman, Officer Cody Morse and Officer Christina Farquhar all received Leawood Police Department’s Lifesaving Award after using CPR andto save the lives of unresponsive subjects.
2023 Retirees Robert Mahon Corporal Robert Mahon retired on March 13after 24 years of service to the Leawood community and an additional four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Cpl. Mahon joined the agency after a year with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. He was a motor officer, a firearms instructor and armorer for 15 years, and a precision rifle marksman. Robert was part of several firsts with the agency - he was an original member of the honor guard and the city’s first FAA certified drone pilot after encouraging the department to start a drone program. He is a recipient of the Metro Chiefs and Sheriffs Association Silver and Bronze Awards for Valor, the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police Valor Award, the Leawood Police Department’s Medal of Valor and a two-time recipient of the department’s Lifesaving Award. Mark Chudik After 27 years of dedicated service, Officer Mark Chudik retired on July 28, 2023. A Western New York native, Mark joined the LPD on March 25, 1996. During his career Mark served as a patrol officer, bicycle patrol officer, School Resource/DARE Officer, traffic officer and finally as a motorcycle officer. He was also an original member of the Honor Guard, and was a training officer for new recruits . Mark is a recipient of a Valor Award and a Lifesaving Award from the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, the Silver Valor Award by the Kansas City Metro Chiefs and Sheriffs Association, and the LPD Medal of Valor. Throughout his career Mark’s hard work and commitment to service twice earned him recognition as Officer of the Year (2000, 2005); the city’s Employee of the Year in 2005; and he received numerous letters of appreciation for his work with the community including bike rodeos, self-defense seminars, and other presentations. David Klingler Early on the morning of Dec. 12th, Leawood Communications Officer Dave Klingler wrapped up a career of more than 42 years in Johnson County law enforcement. He first started his career as a deputy in the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office before moving on to the Fairway Police Department. After his first ‘retirement’ as an officer/deputy, Dave returned to the field and spent the last 22+ years answering 9-1-1 calls for the City of Leawood, the vast majority of them during the overnight hours. Dave was a Communications Training Officer, sharing his experience with those new to the field, and a coordinator with the state criminal justice information system. During his ‘second career’ he received several letters of commendation for his cool, calm presence and received a MidAmerica Regional Council Public Safety Award for his years of service.
The year in review
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January saw a PD team raise $1,747 in the Kansas Special Olympics’ Polar Plunge. That same month we assisted the Kansas City, MO, Police Department in providing security for the KC Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade.
In April we joined the Dialogue Institute of KC for a Ramadan fast breaking dinner. •
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The annual fishing derby on April 29th attracted more than 100 people looking to try their luck.
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In June, Sam and Wyatt (left) and other young entrepreneurs had their lemonade stands open for thirsty officers. In July, HappyBottoms.org donated diapers so that we can be another resource for families in need. Officer Cody was on hand in August to help Mickey celebrate her 100th birthday! •
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September’s Open House, particularly the dunk tank, drew a large crowd to the Justice Center.
Great Plain SPCA Puppy on Patrol Finley was on hand to calm those participating in the third of four blood drives. The four drives ended up collecting 150 needed units of blood, up from the 132 received a year ago. •
One of the department’s Teslas was a point of interest at the city’s 75th Anniversary Celebration Touch-A-Truck event. •
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Evening shift officers on patrol stopped to hand out Halloween candy while making sure everyone was safe.
Leawood volunteers wrapped up the year participating in Project Rudolph and Shop With A Cop events to help brighten the holidays for some deserving kids. •
Community Reactions •
Service is one of the Leawood Police Department’s Values and we continually strive to improve our service to our community. Here are some of the community’s responses:
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