At Weeks End
A few old-school cops may have reservations about female officers responding alone to emergencies.
If they do, they havent worked with Shannon Moore, who has been in the local law enforcement arena for 23 years, currently as a Humboldt police officer.
Three incidents illustrate her immersion.
While Allen County under-sheriff, Shannon was stopped in LaHarpe. She heard a loud car approaching, then stopped with her car illuminated by its headlights. He floored it and came right at me. If Shannon hadnt dove to the hood of her patrol truck, she likely would have been seriously injured, perhaps worse.
Come to find out, the driver was drunk and high on drugs, and admitted he intended to hit me. An initial charge of aggravated assault was pled down to simple assault.
A second encounter: North of Iola a man was bent on committing suicide, and he was searching for a gun. Shannon and Daren Kellerman were on duty, she many miles closer. Without hesitation she responded, and held the man at bay until backup arrived. I got a bit of a reprimand for responding alone, but I didnt think I had a choice, with the man searching for a gun when the call came.
A third occurence: Four suspects scattered when officers answered a call. Shannon gave chase and quickly had three on the ground, two handcuffed.
SHANNON, 48, grew up something of a tomboy. Her long, blonde hair, pleasant demeanor and quick smile today give a different impression cloaking a tough core.
She helped her father, former Allen County Sheriff Ron Moore, cut wood and and was adroit in handling hay bales. That she became a law enforcement officer didnt have its genesis in those activities, but they did show she was capable of holding her own in whatever the demand.
From her freshman year at Humboldt High, law enforcement was on her mind.
She studied psychology and criminal justice at Wichita State ahead of taking a dispatchers position at Iola PD in 1995. A year later she was patrolling streets, becoming cop-smart from Chief Jim Kilby, even before a slot opened at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center. I could have attended sooner, but then they had just six beds for women.
Soon she was Iolas detective and when Tom Williams was elected sheriff, she became undersheriff, which included supervisory and office work, but didnt relieve Shannon of road patrol.
Helping kids always is on her mind. Certification to investigate in-depth child abuse gave her more acute awareness, emphasized by having a daughter.
In 2009, at the urging of residents who recognized her expertise, Shannon made herself available and spent the next four years as Woodson County sheriff. She started a DARE program in local schools and emphasized pursuing illegal drug activty. They needed law enforcement and I gave it to them (taking the county) out of the dark ages.
Another door opened in 2013 in Coffey County. She administered the jail, where policies and procedures needed updating. She also had opportunities to carefully interview children who had been abused.
