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City hires police chief

By Lisa Stevens John - | Jan 26, 2000

A former Roeland Park chief of police is the new police chief for the city of Tonganoxie.

Sworn in Friday afternoon, Kenny Carpenter, 53, brings 29 years of law enforcement experience to his new post. He will take over full time on Feb. 1, replacing Bill Adkins whose resignation was effective Jan. 1.

Raised in Brookfield, Mo., a town of about 5,000 that is 100 miles east of St. Joseph, Carpenter said he’s looking forward to working in Tonganoxie.

“I don’t know a whole lot about the town yet, but it seems like a nice town,” Carpenter said. “So far, everyone I’ve talked to has said good things about the town. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have applied.”

A 1972 graduate of the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, Carpenter holds a bachelor’s degree in administration of justice from Ottawa University. In addition, in 1986, he completed a three-month course at the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy.

Carpenter began his career in law enforcement in 1971 at the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department. In 1972, he was hired by the Roeland Park Police Department where he worked until he moved to the Westwood Police Department in 1977. In 1979, he returned to the Roeland Park police force and in 1982 became chief of police, a position he held until August 1996.

Since then, Carpenter has worked full time driving trucks for a sheet rock company and working part time as a sergeant on the Lake Quivira Police Department.

Carpenter and his wife, Mary Lou, have two sons, Robert, 30, and Kenny, 28, both of whom live in Roeland Park. The couple have a grandson, Lucas, and a step-granddaughter, Katie.