After nearly three decades serving the city of Shawnee, Chief Rob Moser has announced he will retire from the police department.
Moser’s last day is March 23, 2020. Although he plans to remain active professionally, he said “it’s just a good time” for him to retire from law enforcement.
“There’s nothing wrong, I still love getting up and coming to the office every day,” he said. “I love this organization. I couldn’t have asked for an organization to be better to me than what this one has.
“It’s just a good time in my personal life and a great time in the professional life of the organization for me to step aside and let somebody else come in and take the reins and keep the momentum moving forward and steer the department onward and upward.”
Strategic Government Resources, which is leading the headhunt for Moser’s replacement, will begin reviewing applications Jan. 10. A job description is posted online, with a salary range of $130,000 to $160,000.
Stephen Powell, deputy city manager, said the city plans to have the police chief position filled by March 9, 2020. Moser said he believes the city plans to select his replacement before he retires so that he could help in the transition.
If the city does not have a replacement by that time, then City Manager Nolan Sunderman will name an interim police chief to temporarily fill the position.
Moser was first hired by the city as a police officer in 1992. He has served in various capacities and in all divisions of the police department, rising in rank over the years until he was appointed chief of police in May 2015, according to city records.
“I’m actually looking very forward to the next challenge out there to come along, something that I can go in and hopefully have as productive of a career with them as I had here in Shawnee,” Moser said. “It’s kind of exciting to think about what lies ahead and what challenges are out there for me to take on.”
Moser said he feels “incredibly blessed and fortunate” to have been a part of the city of Shawnee for the past 29 years.
“I can’t imagine my career going any better had I been hired anywhere else right out of college like I was here,” he said, noting his gratitude to the community for its support of the Shawnee Police Department when the national rhetoric had taken a negative spin on law enforcement the past few years. “Shawnee reacted in the exact opposite way and stood up and showed a lot of support for their law enforcement agency through those times. That was so refreshing. It was great to see the community support the police department like they did.”
Above all else, Moser said he will most miss his staff at the police department.
“I’m truly blessed to be a part of a wonderful group of professionals who really care about the service they provide,” he said. “Sure, it’s a job for them, but it’s not just a job to them. They have the community’s best interest at heart. They genuinely care about public safety and about the ultimate goal we all have of creating safer communities.”
