Captain Jonas Baughman is an 23-year veteran of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department (KCPD). A native of the Kansas City area, Captain Baughman joined the KCPD after obtaining a B.A. in psychology from Creighton University. He has held assignments in patrol, investigations, administration, and crime/intelligence analysis during his tenure. Captain Baughman quickly found crime analysis to be his professional passion early in his career, with more than half of his career having been in positions related to crime or intelligence analysis. He created and supervised the KCPD's first Real-time Crime Center team, directed a squad of detectives tasked with gang intelligence, and managed teams of analysts within KCPD’s Law Enforcement Resource Center. He currently work in the Office of the Chief of Police where he manages the agency’s data-driven strategies, oversees ongoing research projects, and provides strategic analyses and other metrics for executive staff.
Captain Baughman's primary interests include spatial analysis and data analytics, including data mining and visualization. He is also interested in building upon his background in psychology through post-graduate work in industrial/organizational psychology. Captain Baughman feels there is much to be learned by working with international police departments, allowing law enforcement agencies to leverage best practices from across the globe. He looks forward to networking with and learning from others within the LEADS program, and hopes this will ultimately make communities across America, including Kansas City, safer places to call home.
Captain Baughman’s work has been awarded and recognized from organizations such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. He is also a 2024 inductee into George Mason University’s Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame.