By MPOA Staff

On December 2, 2017, Dennis Postel worked his last day as a detective with the Claycomo Police Department, ending his career spanning 40 years in law enforcement.

Postel first served 6 years in the 1139th Military Police Company of the Missouri National Guard before entering law enforcement in 1972 as a police officer with the Lee’s Summit Police Department.

A highlight of Postel’s career was in 1983 when an informant contacted him with knowledge of a large-scale South American cocaine operation with connections to the Kansas City area. He turned over the lead to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the resulting investigation led to three arrests and the seizure of 29 pounds of pure cocaine, $80,000 in U.S. currency, two vehicles and five firearms. The cocaine was valued at $6 million.

In the late 1990s Postel was appointed chief of police for Homestead, Missouri, a village of 400 near Kansas City, and took on the challenge of building a police department from the ground up.

With no businesses to support a tax base, he had to apply for grants to buy equipment, and obtained a donated police radio, uniforms and other gear from the Kansas City Police Department.

Postel spent his entire career in the Greater Kansas City area, earning recognition through two departmental commendations and five awards. Also noteworthy was his being the first Latino appointed as a chief of police in the Kansas City, Missouri, area, originally in Homestead and later in the nearby community of Crystal Lakes.

His achievements also included earning public administration, administration of criminal justice and paralegal degrees from Park University in Parkville, Missouri. He has been a member of MPOA since 1979, and his other affiliations have included the Small Cities Police Chiefs Association and the Latino Peace Officers Association.

Congratulations on your retirement!