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Shawnee police chief outlines 2025 decline in calls, warns of staffing and mental-health challenges
Summary
Police Chief Sam Larson presented a 2025 year-in-review showing a drop in calls for service and named the top five call types; he outlined upcoming challenges including retirements, recruiting, mental-health-related calls, rising costs and planning for a Justice Center expansion.
Police Chief Sam Larson provided a review of 2025 to the council, which the city communications director summarized during the March 9 meeting. The review showed a drop in calls for service from 2024 to 2025, with car crashes, assisting outside agencies, welfare checks, suspicious activities and theft accounting for the top five call types.
Sam Larson (Police Chief) also outlined near-term challenges facing the department: retirements and the need to recruit new officers to fill vacancies; a growing share of calls involving mental-health consumers; increasing operational costs; preparations related to the upcoming World Cup; and planning for a Justice Center expansion, succession and strategic planning to support a growing city population, the city said.
The transcript provides a summary of the review but does not include direct remarks from Chief Larson, numerical staffing levels, or budget impacts. City officials did not provide specific timelines or cost estimates for the Justice Center expansion in the meeting summary. The council will receive additional detail if staff brings more documentation to a future meeting.
