Police Department | Units & Programs
Animal ControlLicensing and Registration Information: Animal Control Office 8 AM - 5 PM - 368-9484. You can email Linda Halford at the Animal Control Office.
To Report Animal Complaints: 24 Hours/Day Animal Control Dispatcher - 368-9203 or Helping Hands Humane Society - 233-7325.
Animal Control Officers do not respond to "barking dog" calls. This type of complaint is handled by uniformed police officers.
Animal Control Officers are on duty from 6 AM until 8:30 PM during the summer months and from 8 AM until 5 PM in the winter months. For times when an officer(s) is not on duty, there is a call-back procedure in place but only for cases of an injured or sick animal, a vicious animal, or an animal that has bitten someone.
The Animal Control Unit is also responsible for the issuance of dog and cat licenses. These licenses may be obtained by contacting or coming by the Animal Control Office at the Law Enforcement Center, 320 S. Kansas. This office is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM. Registration forms are also available at the Helping Hands Humane Shelter and various veterinary clinics and may be mailed to the Animal Control Office.
The annual license fee for a neutered dog or cat is $5.00. For an un-neutered dog or cat the fee is $8.00.
Animals which are picked up by Animal Control Officers are generally taken to the Helping Hands Humane Society Shelter, 2625 NW Rochester Road. To claim an animal taken to the Shelter pursuant to charges, such as violation of the leash law or no tags, the owner should contact the Shelter to obtain the number and date of the ticket. They should then go to the Animal Control Office to be served with the ticket. Once this is done, they have 14 days to either pay the fine(s) or set a court date. In most cases, except cruelty cases or pit bull violations for example, the animal can be returned to the owner after the ticket is served.
Bicycle Unit
In order to be a member of the unit, officers must pass the qualifications set by the International Police Mountain Bike Association (I.P.M.B.A.). The unit has it own certified instructor and classes are provided yearly for surrounding agencies needing officers trained for police bike units. Training for bike officers includes a firearm course, designed with the bike officer in mind. Our training includes the expertise of our own certified TREK bike mechanic.
Chaplain Program
For nearly 40 years, there has been a Chaplains Program at the Topeka Police Department. These men and women volunteer their time and services to serve and support the community and the employees of the Topeka Police Department. There are ten chaplains who each have a duty week and provide support to officers and employees. The chaplain assists officers with making unattended death notifications; they will make hospital visits, provide reading material, perform memorial and wedding services if requested and provide counseling to employees and their spouses. For long-term problems, referrals are made.
If you have any questions about the Chaplains Program, please contact 368-9051 or e-mail chaplain@topeka.org.
Community Policing
The Topeka Police officers who maintain storefront offices in the community are listed below. Please click on their name to contact by email. Also available is a map of their community policing area.
Zones (click for Zone Map)
Zone 1 |
Zone 4  785-368-9276 Zone 5  785-368-9259 Zone 6  785-368-9258 |
Public Housing
- Officer Shawn Reynard
- 369-9073 (Voice)
- 925-1712 (Cell)
The Topeka Police Department operates a vehicle impoundment lot at 322 NW Crane. This is a secured environment with limited access to people with approved business. Released items may be claimed at the impound office. Vehicles and other items that are not claimed will be auctioned either in the monthly impoundment auction or through the contracted auction service.
Hours Of Business
Normal hours - 8:30am to 4:30pm; Monday through Friday. Closed holidays.
Note the office may be closed over a lunch hour depending on staffing levels. Please call ahead if you need to come in between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm to make sure when someone will be available to help you.
Phone Numbers
785-368-9230
785-368-9264 (fax)
Process For Claiming Impound Vehicle
The registered owner must present:
- Current, valid registration and tag
- Current, valid insurance
- A valid drivers license or state issued photo ID card
If you are not the registered owner of the vehicle, in addition to the above documents you must also have an affidavit from the owner, dated, signed and notarized authorizing release of the vehicle to you. The notarized authorization may be no more than one week old.
K-9 Unit
The Topeka Police Departments K-9 program started in 1960. At 40-plus years, it is one of the oldest K-9 Units in the United States.
During the tenure of the program the Department has utilized German Shepherds, Dutch Shepherds, Czech Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Labrador Retrievers and Belgian Malinois for training as K-9 partners.
The dogs are selected and trained by the Kansas Highway Patrol Police Service Dog Unit.
Training
The dogs and the Officer Handlers undergo an intensive 10-week training program to become proficient at their work. They are taught obedience, patrol skills, along with narcotic and explosive detection skills. After their 10-week basic school the dogs are certified under the International Police Dog Standard.
K-9 teams perform many tasks to assist police officers in their jobs:
- K9s are trained for tracking - scent detection of human scent and following the footsteps of an individual who has left an area on foot.
- K-9s teams search for lost persons.
- Building searches require the K9's to locate individuals who may be hiding inside a structure.
- K9s assist in the capture of dangerous criminals by trailing their path of travel.
- K9s conduct area searches to detect fleeing hiding criminals.
- K9s assist in evidence recovery by detecting a human scent which has been transferred to items recently handled by humans. Items can be located in any indoors or outdoors setting.
- K9s perform article searches after a crime has occurred such as searching for shell casings after a shooting in areas sometimes as large as a football field.
- K9s back up their Officer partners on all types of patrol calls.
- K9s assist with narcotics detection. The narcotics detection trained K-9s are often called to search vehicles and houses when requested by an officer and backed by probable cause for the presence of illegal drugs or contraband. The drug dogs are trained to detect marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin odors.
- K9s protect their assigned handler.
- K9s are trained to search and detect explosive devices, including bombs.
School Resource Officer Program
Topeka's School Resource Officer (SRO) program was implemented in the 1994-1995 school year as part of the Topeka Police Department's focus on helping maintain a safe learning environment for students in the Topeka Public School District.
A Topeka Police Department School Resource Officer fills many different roles within their schools:
- The SRO is a proactive law enforcement officer dealing with law related issues on campus.
- The SRO provides students with a positive role model, and a balanced realistic view of law enforcement.
- The SRO serves as an educational resource for students, teachers, administrators, and parents. The SRO goes into the classroom as a guest instructor to teach law-related topics.
- The SRO is a member of the administrative team, assisting in solving problems and serving on the school's crisis management team.
