fbinaa_10-2019-Digital_press

NETWORKING TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITIES SAFER

F B I N A A . O R G | S E P T / O C T 2 0 1 9

ROB MOSER

Connections. Collaboration. Relationships. NETWORKING. National Academy stu- dents and graduates often use these terms to describe benefits of the experience beyond the 17 hours of college credit earned through the University of Virginia. This story details how building these types of relationships helped bring a violent felon to justice.

I attended the 230th Session of the FBINA in the summer of 2007 and met a Captain from the Virginia Beach Police Department by the name of Mike Ronan . As is usual with most attendees, a core group of five or six developed that included Mike and I. Whether it was evenings at the grove, weekend trips to D.C., or even a getaway to the beach, our group became a network of profession- als who were building lifelong friendships. We graduated later that summer but remained connected through email and later the social media boom. In the spring of 2016, our community, Shawnee, Kansas, ex- perienced a brutal homicide in which the offender was believed to have fled the scene in the victim’s stolen vehicle. Initial investiga- tion led detectives to believe our person of extreme interest had settled in Virginia Beach, some 1200 miles away. I contacted Mike with all known information. Over the course of the next two weeks, encompassing a holiday weekend, information was exchanged as Mike worked diligently with Virginia Beach Police personnel on locating the of- fender. Just one month after this heinous crime, a detective within Mike’s unit located the victim’s stolen vehicle in a Walmart parking lot six miles inland from the beach. After a very brief surveillance of the unoccupied vehicle, the offender in our case emerged from the store, walking to the car, and was subsequently arrested for possession of the victim’s stolen vehicle with homicide charges to follow. As Shawnee detectives prepared to make travel plans for the purpose of follow-up investigation, they were assisted by Virginia Beach personnel in recommending and reserving accommoda- tions in an area unfamiliar to our staff. In addition to the show of hospitality, Mike was sure to note in email communication that, “This apprehension was successful due to both of our depart-

ment’s communication and coordinated efforts!” Communica- tion and coordination that started with a relationship built at the National Academy 9 years earlier. In the winter of 2018, the offender in this case pleaded guilty to premeditated first-degree murder and was issued a life sen- tence without the possibility of parole for 25 years. While I have no doubt the Virginia Beach Police Department would have offered up all resources to assist with our investiga- tion had I never met Mike, I truly believe an extra element of care went into this manhunt as a result of our relationship developed at the National Academy. This apprehension remains a shining example of how the FBI National Academy continues to make our communities safer through avenues of building relationships and networking.

About the Author: Chief Rob Moser began his career as a Shawnee Police Officer in 1992. Throughout his career, Rob has served in various capacities and in all divisions of the Police Department, with an emphasis on criminal interdiction, tactical operations and professional standards. Rob was promoted to the ranks of Sergeant in 1997, Lieutenant in 2001, Captain in 2007 and to Deputy Chief in 2011 where he served until his appointment to Chief of Police in May of 2015.

Prior to his employment with the City, Chief Moser earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from the Uni-

versity of Central Missouri. In 2006, he graduated from UCM with a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice Administration. Chief Moser is a 2007 graduate of the 230th session of the FBI National Academy, and a 2014 graduate of the Shawnee Tomorrow Leader- ship Program. He has been a resident of Shawnee since 1992 and is past President of the Shawnee Rotary Club.

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