Shuter Retiring From Warsaw Police After 31 Years
August 19, 2017 at 4:03 a.m.
Shuter Retiring From Warsaw Police After 31 Years
By David [email protected]
But he isn’t going far. He’s returning to his alma mater, Grace College, as the associate director of special events.
Shuter’s departure from WPD was announced by Mayor Joe Thallemer at the Board of Public Works and Safety meeting Friday morning.
Shuter said, “I just want to say it’s been a great honor serving the city. A tremendous opportunity. I’ve met people here within our county, within the state, nationality, that only through the employment through the city of Warsaw has allowed me to do that. So I’m tremendously grateful to this entire community, and I wish it the best of luck in the future.”
Shuter is retiring effective Sept. 9, Thallemer said. His 31 years with the department include two years as a dispatcher and 29 years as an officer. Shuter has worked as the public information officer since 2010, providing information and press releases to area media.
Shuter began his career with WPD in 1986 as a dispatcher and was hired as a patrol officer in 1988.
He is an honors graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. He has held the ranks of dispatcher, patrol officer, patrol sergeant, patrol lieutenant and operations captain.
Shuter is a certified crash reconstructionist, attending both leading U.S. crash reconstruction training institutions, Northwestern University Center for Public Safety and University of North Florida Institute of Police Technology and Management. He is a certified crash data retrieval (black box) technician and analyst and has served as WPD's traffic homicide investigator for the past 27 years.
Shuter is a 1990 founding member of the Indiana Association of Certified Accident Investigators and currently serves as its president. He also sits on the national board of directors for the World Reconstruction Exposition Inc.
“We are, first of all, very happy for Kip to be able to move on to a career that I know he’s been involved with and now has an opportunity to further himself with Grace College. It’s a great opportunity for him. We know he wasn’t planning on leaving this quick, but the opportunity arose. We tried to talk him out of it, but Kip’s given us 29 years of great and faithful service. We’ll certainly be working to replace him, which will be very difficult,” Thallemer said.
He said Shuter will be at his last Warsaw Traffic Commission meeting Sept. 6 and “at that point we’ll have a replacement for him.” Shuter serves as the city’s traffic administrator.
Thallemer said he was sure there would be a retirement bash for Shuter at some point so people should watch for that.
In a statement from the department, WPD Chief of Police Scott Whitaker said, “Captain Kip Shuter excelled in his responsibilities as a police officer, but had a passion for crash investigations and traffic safety. He is currently Warsaw Police Department's only crash reconstructionist and has trained numerous officers in crash investigations over the last 18 years.
“I believe traffic safety became a byproduct of his involvement/training in crash investigations. Shuter became involved with the Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission early in his career, before being appointed in 1999 by then Mayor Wiggins as the city of Warsaw traffic safety commissioner. Kip has been a participant in numerous traffic improvements throughout the city of Warsaw during his tenure on the Traffic Safety Commission,” Whitaker continued.
“Kip has worn many hats and has played an integral part in WPD's success over the last 30 years. He has been a tremendous asset to our administration and will be missed. I wish him continued success in his future endeavors,” he said.
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But he isn’t going far. He’s returning to his alma mater, Grace College, as the associate director of special events.
Shuter’s departure from WPD was announced by Mayor Joe Thallemer at the Board of Public Works and Safety meeting Friday morning.
Shuter said, “I just want to say it’s been a great honor serving the city. A tremendous opportunity. I’ve met people here within our county, within the state, nationality, that only through the employment through the city of Warsaw has allowed me to do that. So I’m tremendously grateful to this entire community, and I wish it the best of luck in the future.”
Shuter is retiring effective Sept. 9, Thallemer said. His 31 years with the department include two years as a dispatcher and 29 years as an officer. Shuter has worked as the public information officer since 2010, providing information and press releases to area media.
Shuter began his career with WPD in 1986 as a dispatcher and was hired as a patrol officer in 1988.
He is an honors graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. He has held the ranks of dispatcher, patrol officer, patrol sergeant, patrol lieutenant and operations captain.
Shuter is a certified crash reconstructionist, attending both leading U.S. crash reconstruction training institutions, Northwestern University Center for Public Safety and University of North Florida Institute of Police Technology and Management. He is a certified crash data retrieval (black box) technician and analyst and has served as WPD's traffic homicide investigator for the past 27 years.
Shuter is a 1990 founding member of the Indiana Association of Certified Accident Investigators and currently serves as its president. He also sits on the national board of directors for the World Reconstruction Exposition Inc.
“We are, first of all, very happy for Kip to be able to move on to a career that I know he’s been involved with and now has an opportunity to further himself with Grace College. It’s a great opportunity for him. We know he wasn’t planning on leaving this quick, but the opportunity arose. We tried to talk him out of it, but Kip’s given us 29 years of great and faithful service. We’ll certainly be working to replace him, which will be very difficult,” Thallemer said.
He said Shuter will be at his last Warsaw Traffic Commission meeting Sept. 6 and “at that point we’ll have a replacement for him.” Shuter serves as the city’s traffic administrator.
Thallemer said he was sure there would be a retirement bash for Shuter at some point so people should watch for that.
In a statement from the department, WPD Chief of Police Scott Whitaker said, “Captain Kip Shuter excelled in his responsibilities as a police officer, but had a passion for crash investigations and traffic safety. He is currently Warsaw Police Department's only crash reconstructionist and has trained numerous officers in crash investigations over the last 18 years.
“I believe traffic safety became a byproduct of his involvement/training in crash investigations. Shuter became involved with the Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission early in his career, before being appointed in 1999 by then Mayor Wiggins as the city of Warsaw traffic safety commissioner. Kip has been a participant in numerous traffic improvements throughout the city of Warsaw during his tenure on the Traffic Safety Commission,” Whitaker continued.
“Kip has worn many hats and has played an integral part in WPD's success over the last 30 years. He has been a tremendous asset to our administration and will be missed. I wish him continued success in his future endeavors,” he said.
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