CPD appoints police chief, focuses on experience
Burton brings 28 years of law enforcement experience to Columbia.
Published Feb. 23, 2009
Kenneth Burton was announced the new chief of the Columbia Police Department last week, and since he and other city officials have prepared for his arrival.
Burton has been the chief of the Haltom City, Texas, department since 2003. His tenure in Columbia will take affect April 1.
Burton has 28 years of experience in Texas law enforcement and almost 10 of those years have been in management.
Burton was also a chief in Bryan, Texas, and the deputy police chief of Arlington, Texas, for two years. In addition to being a large community with a population of about 325,000 citizens, a division of the University of Texas is also located there.
Burton said the opportunity to work in a bigger city, such as Columbia, was one of the deciding factors in his decision to take the job.
"As a chief, that was my goal, to work through a couple of smaller agencies until I got to the size of the city I wanted to work in," Burton said.
The university was also a big attraction for Burton.
"My wife and I have lived in a university community before," Burton said. "I like the vibrancy of the youth being around."
Burton said he's worked in patrol, traffic, detectives, the gang unit and in tactical, giving him a wide range of experience that allows him to better understand each officer's day-to-day task in keeping Columbia citizens safe.
Watkins said compared with the other candidate, Kansas City Police Maj. Christine Laughlin, Burton stood out in terms of his experience, though both were qualified.
"In my mind, what made Ken Burton rise to the top was his experience as a chief, being the number one position, as apposed to Maj. Laughlin's highest rank of being a major, which is really the third level down," Watkins said.
City Council member Karl Skala said he originally favored Laughlin based on her familiarity with Columbia, her large role in a high-crime area of Kansas City and her academic preparedness, but he said he is confident in Burton's abilities.
"Either of those candidates I expected would do a good job if they were offered the position," Skala said.
Paulette Hansen, a member of the citizen committee, was chosen because she
was a former chairperson of the Westwind's Park Neighborhood
Association. As chairwoman, she functioned as a liaison between the
city and the neighborhood.
"I think it was clear the advisory committee members were impressed with both candidates, and recognized that each candidate had his or her unique strengths,"
Hansen said.
Hansen said Watkins made the final decision. She said she felt honored to serve on the committee, and is hopeful that the selection was the best possible for our city. Watkins and Skala both said they were impressed by Burton's experience in database and geographic policing, a new technology that deals with real-time reporting and analysis of where crime is happening and then adjusting to cover those areas.
CPD Capt. Stephen Monticelli said database policing, or data management, is something the department has already been working on, but Burton's experience could help them to advance the technology further.
Burton's experience with accreditation could also help the department reach its long-term goal of revising its policies to meet national standards.
Burton said he plans to spend his first few months getting to know the department and community stakeholders.
"I want to meet with everybody from the person that does the floors, all the way up through the command staff and give them some of my time, so they know who I am and what I'm about," Burton said.
Burton said he plans to emphasize succession planning, which focuses on training lower officers so the department is prepared to fill a position with the most qualified candidate as a position opens up. Crime prevention will also be a major focus.
Burton said he already feels at home in Columbia, having visited with his wife during the search process.
"We have no issue that we won't just fall in love with the community," Burton said. "We already have."
Interim Police Chief Tom Dresner has filled the position since July. Dresner was out of the office until March 2 and unable to comment.
