Kenny Kavanaugh: Jeffersonville, Indiana Chief of Police

Chief Kenny Kavanaugh is the epitome of the expression, “street cop to the top cop!”  He worked through the ranks and built an impressive resume along the way during his twenty-eight years with the Jeffersonville Police Department.  From Patrol Command, to SWAT Command, to Undercover Narcotics work, which includes duty assignments with FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Louisville Office of the D.E.A. as a narcotics detective, all the way to the Chief’s office! 

In this episode of The Coptimizer Podcast one theme resonates throughout, Chief Kavanaugh cares deeply about his officers, his organization, and his community. He discusses the lessons he learned from his experiences and how he thinks about them now in relation to building a strong organizational culture.  Specifically, how to train officers for the future and how they can be prepared today!

Chief Kavanaugh discusses his strategies around recruitment and retention, and why he feels so strongly about training officers to be prepared for the challenges they will face to help them be successful throughout their careers.  How he looks to reshape the vision of the organization for success in a new policing environment.  Building sustainable relationships and a culture that focuses on development of the whole officer.

Along the way, we throw in a few stories from his life as an undercover officer, and how those experiences shaped the way he thinks about ensuring we are properly preparing and training officers. 

In this episode we cover a lot of ground, but without giving away the end, I  want to touch on some teasers for this episode, the first being the obvious ramifications of a need for valuing, training, and caring for current personnel. I think we are seeing a trend on the Coptimizer Podcast!

At his core, Chief Kavanaugh is a family man and he loves policing.  In an era where police professionals discourage their loved ones to enter our noble profession, he has a son that is following in his footsteps.  Join us in this conversation and see for yourself the passion that Chief Kavanaugh brings to his work.  Maybe here we find the secret, that for him, this is not work at all, it is a calling!

You can watch this podcast on our YouTube channel by clicking here.