Owens Proudly Assumes Reins of Kent Police Department
When he began his career with the Kent police department more than two decades ago, Kevin Owens never had a fleeting thought about one day leading the department.
But last week, the town board named Owens the acting chief of police in the Town of Kent as the department lifer has assumed the role he never dreamed of. Taking over for former chief Alex DiVernieri, Owens wants to continue the department’s positive role in the community.
“When I started out that wasn’t like a thought in my head,” Owens said of one day becoming chief. “I was just happy to have a job and feed my family and do something that I liked.”
Owens started out as a patrol officer in 1995 and steadily rose through the ranks. He became a detective in 2001, was then promoted to sergeant in 2012 and in 2015 he became a lieutenant.
“Now, I’m lucky enough to be chief,” Owens said, noting he’s been with only the Kent department his entire law enforcement career. “I feel lucky to go up through the ranks.”
Working in a small town like Kent has been a joy for Owens, because he feels like he can make a difference. He was a youth officer in the local schools for several years and now he sees students he assisted grown up and living in the community. Some of have even become police officers.
“You know the people and you can actually help people,” Owens, who was in the Army for three years before becoming a police officer, said.
Owens said he learned much from previous leaders of the department and is proud to continue a legacy of community service. Talking about former chief DiVernieri, Owens said the he stressed “community policing,” a tradition Owens knows is important to continue.
While the department will handle major problems like drug use and property crime, they will also respond to a bat in someone’s house or a dog on the loose and try to help the best they can, Owens said. Owens said there is a certain joy in helping people that you see around town, whether it is at the grocery store and in the local diner or at a school function and church service.
“It’s not just a police department where you’re looking to give out tickets and arrest people, but you’re looking to solve problems with the citizens,” Owens said. “Everybody working together to make the community a better place to live.”
Residing in Holmes, Owens is a short distance from department headquarters and his children went through the Carmel school system.
So far, Owens, who still dons his lieutenant pin until his chief pin arrives, has led the department for most of July and now into August. With a good group of men and women working in the department, everyone has chipped in through the transition period and gone the “extra mile,” Owens said.
Recently, Owens said the department hired two new members to join the patrol ranks. As they were being sworn in, he wondered what those two new members were thinking, particularly about their future with the department.
“Someday maybe one of them will be chief,” Owens said.
