Administration

The Administration Division leads the Police Department with Sam Larson serving as Chief of Police and Ben Mendoza serving as Deputy Police Chief. These positions are assisted by the Administrative Coordinator. The Division includes the Professional Development Bureau that is supervised by a commander at the rank of Captain.

Professional Development Bureau
The Professional Development Bureau is led by a Captain. This bureau includes the Crime Analysis Unit and Training Unit.

The Professional Development Captain is responsible for continuous policy improvement by auditing the effectiveness of existing practices. Researches and advises on legal updates as changes in case law and legislation evolve. The Captain serves as the Accreditation Manager for the CALEA Accreditation process. They also assist with other duties as assigned by the Chief and Deputy Chief of Police.

The Professional Development Captain oversees the Crime Analysis Unit and Training Unit, which is comprised of a Training Sergeant and Training Officer.


Crime Analyst
The Crime Analyst supports all three divisions of the police department. They collect, analyze and maintain information relating to criminal activity and overall department performance. Through the application of a variety of statistical methods and geographical analysis techniques, they identify crime trends and patterns to make forecasts and predictions on emerging crime series.
Training Unit
The Sergeant directs the training of each officer in the department by ensuring the completion of necessary state required training each year. In addition to the required state training, the Training Unit ensures that all personnel are kept up to date with new laws, technological improvements, and revisions in agency policy, procedures, rules and regulations.

The Training Officer is assigned to the Johnson County Regional Police Academy to teach and oversee recruit officers during their initial training.
CORE Unit
The Community Outreach, Relations, and Engagement (CORE) Unit is staffed with 1 Sergeant, 2 Officers, and 4 School Resource Officers.

The Community Outreach, Relations, and Engagement (CORE) Unit was implemented to work collaboratively with, and coordinate the efforts of, the entire police department to implement crime prevention strategies and tactics while building positive relationships with the community.

The School Resource Officers are assigned to Shawnee's Middle and High Schools during the school year, and are responsible for investigating crimes occurring on school grounds and assisting with cases involving students. During the summer, the officers assist the CORE Unit as needed.

CORE can be reached by clicking here to send an email or calling (913) 631-2155.