110 Years of Commitment to Excellence

Our association began as the “Proposed Federation of Kansas Peace Officers,” a project to federate the peace officers of the State of Kansas that was first discussed during a state meeting of the Sheriff’s Association held in Kansas City, Kansas, on December 29, 1915. At that meeting, a committee was appointed to perfect plans for the federation, which was considered to be of vital importance to every peace officer within the state.

Members of the committee included Franklin County Sheriff Nick Johnson (Chairman), Superintendent of Special Services for the A.T. & S.F. Railway, Lyon County Sheriff Walt Davis, Riley County Sheriff C. E. Schemerhorn, and Kansas State Penitentiary Parole Officer J. M. Lingenfelter.

A special meeting was subsequently held in Salina, Kansas, on Wednesday, June 14, 1916, for the purpose of organizing what was considered one of the most important and profitable movements for peace officers within the state. Every peace officer in Kansas was urged to attend the meeting. During the meeting, a temporary organization was established and officers were elected for the permanent organization.

The first elected president of what was then known as the Kansas State Peace Officers’ Association (KSPOA) was Chief of Special Agents Emmett Grett of the Santa Fe Railroad.

One of the featured guest speakers at the meeting was Oklahoma City Police Chief W. B. Nichols, who shared the constitution and bylaws of the Oklahoma Peace Officers Association. Those documents were used as a model for the first constitution and bylaws of the KSPOA.

A second meeting was held in Dodge City on December 6, 1916, in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Association. Then, during the fourth KSPOA convention in Independence, Kansas, in December 1917, the Sheriff’s Association and the KSPOA merged into one organization because the goals of the two organizations were nearly identical. Some years later, the sheriffs separated to form the Kansas Sheriffs’ Association.

Shawnee County Sheriff Oscar W. Carlson wrote an article in The Peace Officer magazine in 1926 with the opening statement, “Organization begets cooperation. It is therefore the organized bodies that accomplish most.” Sheriff Carlson recognized the efforts of a sheriffs’ association in coordinating certain law enforcement activities, but because membership in that organization was limited, those efforts were often futile. Thus, the KPOA was formed in 1916 to create a stronger sense of cooperation among law enforcement officers and agencies in order to better suppress crime.

The word “State” was eventually dropped from the association’s name, thereby renaming it the Kansas Peace Officers' Association (KPOA). On November 19, 1957, the association was chartered as a non-profit corporation with the Kansas Secretary of State.

For more than a century, the Kansas Peace Officers' Association has stood as a symbol of dedication, professionalism, and camaraderie within the law enforcement profession. It was this high level of commitment and shared purpose that created the organization in 1916 and continues today as the foundation of the KPOA’s progress and professionalism across all segments of law enforcement. This diversity has long been one of the association’s greatest strengths.

According to the Constitution and Bylaws of the Association from 1932, the intended purpose of the KPOA was:

“To promote personal acquaintance among peace officers in Kansas, thereby obtaining better cooperation in the discharge of duties as such; to better qualify its members for proper and speedy handling of their business by the exchange of ideas and methods of procedure, and to recommend the adoption of laws in the State of Kansas which will be beneficial to this Association as well as to citizens of the State.”

While the mission of the KPOA has evolved over the years, it remains true to its original foundation:

“To promote personal acquaintance and cooperation among peace officers and agencies of Kansas; to advocate for sound legislation and laws that enhance the safety and welfare of peace officers and the public; to promote the improvement of police service and the advancement of the law enforcement profession; and to raise the standards of law enforcement institutions and officials in the State of Kansas.”

Over the past century, the KPOA has played a significant role in the formation and promotion of numerous important initiatives, including the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Act, the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC), the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training (KSCPOST), and the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial in Topeka, among others.

In 2026, the KPOA has also played a strong and supportive role in the formation of a Law Enforcement Line of Duty Death Assistance Team, organized and operated under the direction of the Kansas Highway Patrol and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, as well as the establishment of the Law Enforcement Line of Duty Death Support, LLC, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organized under the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation Board of Directors. These initiatives were created to support the work of the Assistance Team and to provide assistance to the families of officers killed in the line of duty.

Today, the KPOA remains the premier umbrella association representing all facets of the law enforcement profession — from frontline personnel to administrators and support staff. The KPOA promotes professionalism and works continuously toward the betterment of the law enforcement profession. We remain dedicated to the principles of cooperation, service, and justice.