Former THPD chief headed to Westfield

Feb. 20—Former Terre Haute Police Chief Shawn Keen is headed to Westfield, a fast-growing suburb north of Indianapolis.

Westfield Mayor Scott Willis on Tuesday announced Keen will step into the top police officer's job there April 8. Current Westfield Police Chief Joel Rush has announced his retirement.

Westfield, according to a May 2023 posting on its website, had a 2022 population of 54,605. At the time, that marked Westfield as the sixth-fastest-growing city in the country and the fastest-growing city in Indiana. The latter designation was for the second year running.

Willis, in a statement, said, "Chief Keen is well respected by his peers around the state of Indiana. His leadership skills and experience will serve the Westfield Police Department and community extremely well. We are looking forward to the number of ways that Chief Keen can advance Westfield through our administration."

Keen's tenure as chief in Terre Haute began in 2019 when he was named to the job my Mayor Duke Bennett after then-Chief John Plasse was elected Vigo County sheriff.

Keen, 49, was with the Terre Haute Department for more than 25 years, including time as acting chief, assistant chief, head of the investigations unit, and a special response team member for more than 17 years.

During his time as chief, Keen oversaw the move into a new headquarters and the design of a memorial to fallen officers outside the building. He brought a social worker into the department and introduced police body cams to the area.

Keen had a reputation as a talented and dogged detective, and he spent 11 years on a cold case that he eventually solved soon after he became chief.

In that case, an Indiana State University student named Pamela Milam was abducted and murdered in 1973, 46 years earlier. Using genetic genealogy, a technology that did not exist when the crime occurred, Keen established a match to Jeffrey Lynn Hand, who had been killed in 1978 in a shootout with Loogootee police while attempting to abduct another woman.

Milam's parents had died before Keen solved the case, but he was able to bring closure to her siblings and other relatives.

"Personally, I don't think anything can top that for me as far as providing a service to someone else, especially a family who had gone through that for so long," Keen said earlier this year. "You become a policeman to be able to do things like that for others."

"It it is truly an honor to be selected to serve such an amazing and fast-growing community," Keen said in a message texted to the Trib-Star on Tuesday evening. "I can't begin to describe how grateful I am to have the opportunity to serve as chief for not one but two outstanding communities.

"I have devoted my life to this profession and will be forever grateful for the chance to continue serving," he said.

Keen is a graduate of Terre Haute North Vigo High School (1993) and holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Chaminade University, Honolulu, and a master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Oklahoma. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Former Mayor Duke Bennett said in an earlier interview, "He's done a great job. I've had two police chiefs over the course of my 16 years. Shawn stepped right in there and brought some new perspectives to the department, helped us get a lot of things done. The department's progress has been amazing. Crime stats are flat here, which isn't true in some other cities."

Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt added, "He's been an excellent chief, very educated. He did a great job of handling the budget — all kinds of issues there for the THPD. I can say that his integrity has always been the highest, too. ... I just think that I can't say enough about Shawn and the job he's done."

Keen is succeeded as chief in Terre Haute by Kevin Barrett, also a longtime member of the THPD.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.