Police Department Structure

The Animal Control Unit is staffed by three civilian Animal Control Officers (ACOs) who take pride in their profession and enjoy being a resource to our community. Animal Control Officers enforce Lenexa city ordinances pertaining to animals and pet ownership, as well as respond to animal complaints, investigate animal bites, and take lost pet reports from residents.

Animal Control participates in several City festivals throughout the year to promote responsible pet care and celebrate the pets in our community.

Although Animal Control does not trap and remove nuisance wildlife unless the animal is ill or injured, officers are available to answer questions and conduct presentations to local elementary schools to educate students about urban wildlife.

Services related to animal control

The Bicycle Unit is staffed by four officers, who patrol in pairs. These officers utilize both a patrol car and patrol bicycles during the course of their 10-hour shift. Using their patrol bicycles, the officers can access areas where a patrol car is limited. Lenexa has a vast network of trails for walking and jogging that citizens enjoy every day. The bicycle officers have the ability to ride these trails, which gives an enhanced level of security and protection to our community. When not on the trails, bicycle officers will target their efforts to specific areas which may be experiencing a disproportionate amount of criminal activity. The bicycle unit is also used to patrol special community events such as the Great Lenexa BBQ and the Community Days Parade.

Our Community Policing Unit is comprised of crime prevention, crime analysis, warrants, at-risk offender programs, and various community outreach programs. The goal of the Community Policing Unit is to bring police, residents, and other agencies or organizations together to identify and find the causes of various neighborhood problems. Once these problems are identified, the unit develops responses based on the problems’ causes. Responses are typically joint police-community actions, which may involve participation by other city departments such as parks and code enforcement, outside agencies, social organizations, and others.

The Lenexa Police CRCP unit was created in 1995 to help deal with illegal activity and quality of life issues that occur in our hotels and apartment communities. The CRCP unit is comprised of 10 officers. These officers respond to complaints from residents and property managers, conduct follow-up investigations, look for signs of criminal activity or patterns, and take the appropriate action. CRCP Officers work closely with each property to address problems and continue a partnership with the community.

The Crime Analysis Unit is staffed by two full-time civilian Crime Analysts. Our Crime Analysts work to identify trends in crime and disorder through tactical, strategic, intelligence, and administrative analysis. These efforts keep officer safety a priority, aid in deploying resources, and assist in identifying and apprehending suspects. The unit supports our community by maintaining the public crime map and working closely with the Investigations Division and Crime Prevention Unit.

The Crisis Negotiations Team (CNT) is a support element of the Tactical Unit and is on call 24/7 to respond to high-risk incidents such as barricaded subjects or hostage situations. The team consists of twelve negotiators and three dispatchers. Team members have received specialized training involving hostage negotiations and critical incidents involving persons experiencing an emotional crisis or mental illness.

The Crisis Negotiations Team utilizes the Lenexa Police mobile command post, a specially equipped vehicle that can be deployed near the scene of an emergency situation and serve as the temporary operations center.

The Directed Patrol Unit (DPU) is staffed by four officers and one sergeant. DPU is utilized for a variety of different response actions and proactive enforcement. Some of the crimes investigated include narcotics, prescription drug crimes, firearms crimes, prostitution/vice, internet crimes against children, and human trafficking. DPU can also be deployed for proactive patrol and surveillance to aid in burglary and theft investigations as well as other crime sprees. When not in reactionary response, DPU will conduct proactive criminal interdiction.

The Lenexa Police Honor Guard is comprised of eleven members and serves the law enforcement community by honoring our fallen brothers/sisters who have gone before us, respecting the survivors, and paying tribute to the profession. They also serve the community by presenting a Police Color Guard at local Kansas City area functions, which has included the Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Chiefs, Sporting KC, the Johnson County Regional Police Academy graduations, and the Lenexa Spinach Festival.

The K9 Unit is staffed by three teams, each consisting of one officer (handler) and their K9. All three of our K9s are 'dual purpose', meaning they are trained in both criminal apprehension and narcotics detection. Additionally, our K9s are also used to help locate missing or endangered persons and to conduct article searches. The K9 Unit also performs public demonstrations at schools and to other groups in the community.

Our K9 Unit was started in 1972 and was the first working K9 unit in Johnson County and one of the first in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Over the years, our K9 Unit has been recognized by the National Police Canine Association with awards for Patrol and Narcotics competitions at national seminars.

Our current K9s are Bruno (German Shepherd), Kobi (Dutch Shepherd) and Bart (Dutch Shepherd).

Our School Resource Officers fulfill three basic functions in their school assignments: law enforcement officer (dealing with any law and safety/public order-related issues), informal counselor (for students, parents, and staff), and guest teacher (for instruction in law related educations, violence prevention/diffusion, internet safety, bullying, alcohol and drug prevention, crime prevention, and more). Our SROs work in collaboration with school administrations to promote a safe educational environment for all.

All of our SROs are certified by the National Association of School Resource Officers. During the months that schools are in session, SROs are assigned full-time to work in their respective schools. Our SROs also facilitate the summer Youth Police Academy, a 1-week program to educate teens about law enforcement.

School Resource Officer Contact Information

The Tactical Unit is comprised of highly dedicated men and women. The Tactical Team includes tactical operators, crisis negotiators, K9 officers, technical support, tactical dispatchers, and armored rescue vehicle operators. The Tactical Unit is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to high-risk incidents such as barricaded subjects, hostage situations, high-risk warrant service, dignitary protection, and any incident deemed a higher risk than routine policing.

The Tactical Support Team (TST) is a support element of the Tactical Unit. TST members are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to high-risk incidents such as barricade subjects, hostage situations, high risk warrant services, dignitary protection and any incident deemed a higher risk than routine policing. 

TST members are responsible for operating armored vehicles, maintaining electronic tools, helping with perimeter/scene security, and supplement entry manpower if needed. TST attend unique and specific training, while also training alongside the Tactical Unit.

The Traffic Safety Unit (TSU) is staffed by five officers and one sergeant. The TSU provides technical expertise to the department in the areas of accident investigation, drunk and/or impaired driving detection, and violation enforcement.

TSU officers aggressively saturate the roadways and participate in national and state-wide safety initiatives such as 'Click it or Ticket', DUI saturation patrols, and texting while driving enforcement. The unit also investigates citizen complaints of speeding vehicles, illegal parking, and other traffic-related issues. In addition, the unit also conducts Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) enforcement, where commercial motor vehicles are inspected and weighed to ensure the safety of our roadways.

At their discretion, TSU officers utilize police motorcycles in the course of their duties. The TSU also uses motorcycles to participate in escorts (police funerals, VIP) as well as special event traffic control (races, parades, community events).

The Training Unit is staffed by two officers, a civilian training specialist, and one sergeant.

This unit is responsible for coordinating and providing all training to sworn officers. This includes firearms skills, defensive tactics, emergency driving, legal issues, crime scene processing, interview / interrogation, and many other skills used daily by officers. The Training Unit has several training venues at their disposal, including an interactive firearms simulator, an indoor range, an outdoor situational training site, and several classrooms. The Training Unit also reviews all uses of force by officers, to ensure that training is current, relevant, and effective.

We have a strong commitment to training our personnel which we believe makes them safer and more effective in the performance of their duties.

The Uniformed Patrol Division is the largest and most publicly visible part of the police department, comprising of approximately 50 sworn officers.  

Our Uniformed Patrol provides an immediate response to calls for service on a 24-hour basis. In conjunction with its emergency response capability, we are committed to maintaining a continuous preventative patrol function within the community. The Patrol Division is responsible for front-line service to the public.

Our patrol officers are encouraged to utilize proactive patrol aimed at recognizing problem areas and preventing criminal activity through intelligent and aggressive patrol techniques. Our Patrol Division works to develop a positive relationship with citizens based on cooperation and understanding to foster an open, trusting relationship. This includes traffic enforcement, response to calls for service from the public, and the detection and investigation of crimes through daily patrol procedures. Our mission is to provide quality public service based on high ethical and professional standards.

The Communications Unit is comprised of highly skilled Police Dispatchers who are dedicated to public/officer safety, criminal apprehension, and customer service. They are the primary 9-1-1 public safety answering point (PSAP) for the City of Lenexa, receiving calls from the public and dispatching officers to where help is needed. They also assist police officers with information gathering using multiple databases.

The General Assignment Unit is comprised of a sergeant and five detectives who investigate property crimes and crimes against people. These detectives seek advanced training to facilitate the investigation of crimes such as theft, battery/assault, robbery, and murder. A general assignment detective receives daily case assignments to investigate. The cases come from crime reports submitted primarily by members of the Patrol Division, station officers or sometimes outside criminal justice agencies. Cases are investigated by reviewing and developing leads within each criminal offense report. Case development relies on an investigator's skills in crime scene processing, interviewing victims and witnesses, surveillance, and questioning of criminal suspects. General assignment detectives frequently work in teams and are encouraged to involve officers in the Patrol Division to assist in criminal investigations.

Two detectives are assigned to investigate financial crimes. These detectives investigate cases involving identity theft, forgery, and various types of fraud ranging from check fraud to corporate embezzlement cases to online scams.

The PD-IT staff works diligently to keep the department on the cutting edge of technology, providing procurement, integration, and ongoing maintenance and support of many and varied systems that support and enhance the abilities of the officers in the field, investigators, and support staff. These technologies include computer-aided dispatch, records management system, ELSAG (our license plate reader platform), e-ticketing, crime mapping, mobile data terminals, and the city's ever-expanding traffic and security camera network.

We maintain a vibrant and productive cadre of civilian volunteers to assist the commissioned officers and other employees of the department in a variety of duties and tasks that further the mission of the police department. Volunteers are recruited from the ranks of those citizens who have completed the Citizen's Police Academy. Current volunteer activities include warrant resolution, clerical assistance, municipal court hosting, range assistance, sign abatement, parking control, traffic studies, and conducting guided tours of the police facility.

The Public Service Officer Unit is comprised of civilian employees that carry out a number of critical functions within the Police Department. They are often the first point of contact for citizens seeking police services and are empowered to take both offense and vehicle accident reports. They are the custodians of the department’s official records and as such receive and fulfill requests for records, perform expungements, and ensure compliance with state and federal statutes regarding the handling and dissemination of police records. Members of this unit are also charged with the day-to-day operation of the property and evidence room.

The Special Victims Unit is staffed by three, full-time detectives. The Special Victims Unit investigates cases involving domestic violence, sex crimes, and crimes against children. The detectives assigned to this unit have specialized training in how to investigate these crimes and assist victims of such crimes. The Special Victims Unit works closely with the Kansas Department of Children and Families and the Johnson County District Attorney's Office.

Child victims are brought to Sunflower House, which is a Children's Advocacy Center that serves as an unbiased resource to law enforcement and child protective services agencies by providing forensic interviews.

The Technical Services Unit is responsible for overseeing the city’s emergency technical systems, police fleet emergency equipment and ensuring that all critical systems used to process emergency calls for service are functioning properly. The unit is also responsible for ongoing maintenance, upgrades, and configuration of these systems.