'That's why we do these jobs': Shawn Keen reflects on time as Terre Haute Police Chief

Dec. 26—As Terre Haute Police Chief, Shawn Keen oversaw the move into a new headquarters and the design of a memorial to fallen officers outside the building. He brought in a police social worker to alleviate his officers' workload and provide comfort to them and the community. He introduced a revolutionary technology to the area in police body cams.

But the thing he's most proud of in his tenure happened early on into his time as chief — when he cracked a cold case that had gone unsolved for more than 46 years concerning a murdered Indiana State University student named Pamela Milam whose body was found on campus in the trunk of her car.

"That was a case I worked for 11 years, (starting as) assistant chief," Keen recalled. "I was able to close that within my first few months as chief by using genetic genealogy (technology that did not exist when the crime occurred). That was a huge thing for me...that I was able to solve that case for a family that had waited 47 years for answers."

DNA testing revealed a 99.9999% match to Jeffrey Lynn Hand, who was killed in 1978 in a shootout with Loogootee police while he was 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. "You become a policeman to be able to do things like that for others."

Keen — who will step down from his position on Jan. 1 when Terre Haute Mayor-elect Brandon Sakbun takes office, and Kevin Barrett, whom Sakbun has appointed police chief, assumes the role — reflected on his tenure as Chief of Police in a recent interview. Keen's time as police chief began in 2019 after serving as assistant chief since 2008. He has been with the department for more than 25 years.

Mayor Duke Bennett, who appointed Keen, said, "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. He's very proactive in everything he's done. He's been a great asset to Terre Haute."

Advancing the department

Keen said his goal has been to take the department into the future.

"I've tried to," he said. "I've tried to not waste the time and do things that will improve the community and the officers' working conditions."

For example, Keen oversaw the move of police headquarters from a century-old, dilapidated building to what he said is now the envy of other police departments.

"When the old Tribune-Star building came open, we just saw so many possibilities to create all this extra space and save the taxpayers some money in the process," Keen said. "Just having the opportunity to be involved in the programming of that, with the architectural firm and to lay it out the way that I thought work flow would work best and create the space that we have — I consider myself very fortunate to have done that. Few chiefs will ever get to do that in their tenure, and it was something I'll never forget."

Keen then augmented the building with the memorial statues of fallen officers Brent Long, Robert Pitts and Greg Ferency that stand outside the entrance.

"We never had a memorial to speak of," he said. "The layout of the memorial came during the [acquiring the] building process. I drew it out on a piece of paper, using the existing circle drive there to lay out the statues. It was just an idea on paper in the beginning. To have a vision in your head of what you want the memorial to be and then to be able to have it turn out the way it did was a really good feeling for me."

Keen implemented the body camera program with input from community groups such as the NAACP to mitigate the apprehension some officers were feeling about the technology.

"To have buy-in from the community on something so important and so costly — if you get their input, they get understanding of the process and why we developed a certain procedure that helped the program be successful," he said. "Now officers don't want to work without those body cameras."

Keen brought in the department's social worker, Jerom Hawker, earlier this year and since then, Hawker has received nothing but rave reviews.

"He is utilized daily by the officers in the field and other community organizations," Keen said. "We were one of the first cities in the state to implement the program. It shows the forward thinking that we have here as a department and how well the community has embraced those ideas."

Keen's also proud of upgrading the department's vehicles and equipment on budget without needing to ask the City Council for additional money.

When Mayor-elect Brandon Sakbun asked all department heads to reapply for their positions, Keen did so, unlike Fire Chief Bill Berry. When Barrett takes over in January, Keen will return to the rank of captain and help with Barrett's transition. After that...well, he has been contemplating what his future might hold.

"The question, then, for me as I've given it thought was — well, I worked so hard to make myself better qualified to be a police chief," he said. "If I want to use those qualifications, I may have to consider going outside the area. As much as I love this community, there are opportunities to continue being a police chief in other areas. I have not ruled that out — I've been contacted about some different opportunities and I'm looking at that."

Keen is 49 and feels he has many years to give his profession.

"I don't want to completely abandon those qualifications and what I've worked for, so I'm considering the possibility that to use those qualifications I may have to go outside the area," he said.

Life as a police officer can be exhilarating — such as when a difficult case is solved and victims get to see justice served — but the life-and-death circumstances also makes it one of the most challenging jobs one can sign up for.

"Losing officers in the line of duty, that can really task you, as can cases that involve children as a victim," Keen said. "Those are hard on officers. But the good days, that's why we do these jobs."

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