NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Police Chief Jeff Hooper said that when the arrest was made of a former officer on sex crime charges earlier this month, that was hard on him and on his department.
"We are guardians of this profession in law enforcement," Hooper said. "Every law enforcement officer needs to be. It tears at my heart and just tears at my soul when somebody like that who has been in the profession is accused of crimes of this nature, especially when it comes from inside your own agency. He wasn't part of my administration. He left shortly after I got here, but still he was a part of the Hutchinson police department."
Hooper definitely had mixed emotions heading into the press conference.
"That day was one of the hardest days of my career because of that piece and because he was in the profession," Hooper said. "But, it was also one of the proudest days of my career that it was my agency and my personnel that was able to arrest him and bring him to justice."
The formal charges filed against former Hutchinson police officer Todd Allen include 17 felonies and seven more misdemeanors. The alleged crimes stretch back all the way to 2012.
"Some of these cases were a decade old, ten years old," Hooper said. "We have ten year old evidence. Witnesses, we have to get back a hold of them. You hear a lot about solving a cold case. That's truly what this was. Even if they were fresh cases that just happened, the dynamics and complexity of a case like this is one thing, but now, you're looking back at cases that are a decade old. I'm really proud of the men, my detectives, who worked on this case. Sgt. Garret Leslie was the lead detective on this particular case and just did a fantastic job putting all those pieces together."
Allen's next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 21.