Police Chief Praises Newly Hired and Promoted Officers

Left to right: Officer Austin Nelson, Chief Jeff Murphy, Officer Katelynn Bennett, Officer Jordan Woodruff, Sergeant Kristine Khoury, Sergeant Erich Vedder, and Lieutenant James Campbell.

At City Council’s January 31 meeting, East Lansing’s Police Chief Jeff Murphy introduced three newly hired and four recently promoted officers to Council and the public.

While speaking about the newly promoted officers, including two sergeants and two lieutenants, Murphy noted that between them they total 80 years of experience in the East Lansing Police Department (ELPD). He told Council that ELPD prides itself on retaining the officers they hire, promoting from within and searching for new officers who will make a career out of their jobs on the East Lansing force.

Among the newly promoted officers, Sergeant Kristine Khoury has worked with the ELPD for over twenty years, nineteen of those as a sworn police officer. She’s worked as a patrol officer and a detective and as a Field Training Officer for fifteen years. She has just been selected to become the Department’s first in-house de-escalation trainer and is currently working on her Master’s Degree.

Sergeant Erich Vedder has worked with the ELPD for twenty years. For the last seventeen years, Vedder has served as a K-9 Officer handling explosive detection dogs, and he is the assistant team leader of the Department’s K-9 team. He has also served as a Use of Force Team instructor and as a member of the Ingham Regional Special Response Team. In addition to his police duties, Vedder is also working towards his Master’s Degree.

Lieutenant James Campbell’s career with the ELPD spans 23 years, the last six of which he has served as a patrol sergeant. Murphy specifically praised Campbell for his efforts to reach out to the community, building relationships with community groups “during some trying times for law enforcement, to put our police department in the best position to effectively serve the community.” Campbell has served on numerous community panels and attended many community events on behalf of the ELPD. With the new promotion, Campbell joins the Police Administration and will continue his work on Community Outreach.

Lieutenant Chad Connelly (pictured below) was away and not able to attend the meeting of Council. Murphy told Council that Connelly has eighteen years of experience with ELPD, currently holds one Master’s Degree and is working on his second. During his time with ELPD, Connelly has worked as a K-9 handler, handling narcotics detection dogs, and he has been a team leader on the Ingham County Regional Special Response Team. He is the Highway Safety Coordinator for ELPD and a drunk driving and field sobriety test instructor. He is also a K-9 instructor at the Mid-Michigan Police Academy, and an MSU Staff and Command Instructor. (Article continues after photo.)

Among the newly hired officers, Katelynn Bennett started with the ELPD as a cadet in 2013 and graduated first in her class from Lansing Community College Police Academy in 2016 after earning a Bachelor Degree in Criminal Justice from MSU in 2015. She was sworn in as an officer on May 16, 2016.

Jordon Woodruff is a lifelong resident of East Lansing—a 2011 graduate of East Lansing High School—and holds an associate’s degree from LCC. He graduated from the LCC Police Academy at the end of 2015. Since his graduation, he has worked as a police cadet in Meridian Township and as a Ranger at Potter Park Zoo. He was sworn in as an officer in the ELPD on December 12, 2016.

Austin Nelson is also a native to the area, having graduated from Haslett High School in 2009. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Wayne State where he was also a distinguished student athlete in football. He is a licensed EMT and graduated from the Mid-Michigan Police Academy in 2016. Nelson was sworn in as an ELPD officer on January 19, 2017.

After introducing the new hires, Murphy reiterated for Council the ELPD policy of trying to hire individuals who will be committed to serving the East Lansing community for 25-30 years. He emphasized that his department invests a lot effort into the training of new officers and that they prefer to keep officers working within the community right up to their retirement.

After Murphy made his introductions, the City Attorney, Assistant City Manager, and Council congratulated and thanked the officers.

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