A 24-year veteran of the Kansas City, Kan., police force, Terry Zeigler, was chosen as the new chief of police today.
Zeigler has served with the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department since 1990, and has been assistant chief bureau of operations, since 2010. A resident of Kansas City, Kan., he went through the 2003 tornado and rebuilt his home.
Unified Government Administrator Doug Bach said he chose Zeigler from a pool of five finalists for the position. He said two blue-ribbon panels evaluated the candidates.
At a news conference at City Hall with about 100 people attending, including many law enforcement officials, Zeigler said he enjoys serving people.
He outlined several goals, including reorganizing the Police Department for effectiveness, continuing to use strategies such as sending officers to “hot spots” to reduce crime, continuing to increase transparency of the department and using open communications.
Zeigler said he plans to continue the department’s emphasis on community policing. Currently there are 19 officers assigned to patrol duty in community policing, and he would like to see the department’s overall philosophy as change to all officers able to do community policing work. There are no plans, however, to expand on the number of community policing officers.
The new chief said he would like to use the police cadet program as a recruiting tool for more minority officers, and also would like to get recommendations of potential officers who are minorities from the community.
On the subject of body cameras for police, which was the topic of a presidential announcement on Monday, Zeigler said he would be in favor of them, and that a process is under way in the department to evaluate the legality of actions such as taking a body camera into a residence. Zeigler also said he would have to make sure the department’s computer infrastructure is updated before body cameras are implemented.
Brenda Shivers, a resident, said interim Police Chief Ellen Hanson did an excellent job, coming to community meetings and listening to residents. That might have had something to do with preventing another Ferguson in this community, Shivers said.
Zeigler said he planned to continue meeting with community groups and residents.
Sheriff Don Ash, who attended the meeting, said he thinks Zeigler is a great selection. He’s “very capable, competent and experienced. He’ll do very well. I think it’s his time, at the right stage, the right place and time.”
Marcia Rupp, a neighborhood group leader, said she anticipated that Zeigler will be a big supporter of community policing. Several years ago, when Chief Rick Armstrong changed community policing hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Zeigler and Rupp both supported changing those hours to 2 to 10 p.m., “when everything happens,” Rupp said.
Chief Zeigler has a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in management and human relations from Mid-America Nazarene University.
Chief Zeigler has extensive experience in patrol, investigations, national security and administration and has served as commander.
