'To Protect and Serve With Honor'
Ordinance No. Sixty Two, passed by the City Council of Topeka on February 11, 1858, under Mayor Orrin T. Welch, provided for the first police force in Topeka. "Colonel" W.L. Gordon was appointed the City Marshall and his first duty was to grade Kansas Avenue from the river to First Avenue.

In an 1887 publication we find this note of civic pride: "Topeka's police force stands second to none in Kansas. It numbers 24 men, comprising of the chief, two deputies and 21 men, with one patrol wagon and two horses. Having a large and growing city to protect and this with a comparatively small body of men, it requires that each and every member of the force should be a first class and thoroughly efficient officer, and of such the police organization of Topeka is composed.

So notably efficient have been the chief and members of the police department that disreputable classes find this community a very uncomfortable one for members of their profession. It is a fact worthy of note that some of the speediest and finest detective work has been performed by the detectives and members of Topeka's Police department. A well-built and centrally located building has been erected by the city for the use of this department as their headquarters, the cost of which was $8,000.00.

Today the Topeka Police Department is comprised of 296 sworn officers. In December, 1995 the department moved into a new police facility, from a police station built in 1937. The new Law Enforcement Center houses the Topeka Police Department, the Shawnee County Sheriff and the Shawnee County Coroner's offices. The facility is state-of-the-art which will see the department well into this century.