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Whiteland Police Department

____________Department Awards____________

The Whiteland Police Department exists to serve our community in a variety of ways and to maintain acceptable social order. Specifically, our purpose is to encourage a spirit of cooperation, respect, fairness and compassion within the community.

We are committed to provide our Town with community-oriented law enforcement to protect life and property, by providing a “commitment to excellence” to the citizens and visitors of Whiteland.

The members of the Whiteland Police Department are dedicated to providing the highest quality police services in order to enhance community safety, protect life & property, and to reduce crime & the fear of crime.

To the end, we pledge to develop a partnership with the community, lead a community, commitment to resolve problems, improve the safety & quality of life in our town by identifying and resolving public safety concerns. We further pledge to build and maintain the public trust by holding ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism in our job performance and ethics. 

The Town Council has set a policy, through the 

adoption of the Department Mission Statement; 

mandating community based policing, specifically 

with a “hometown” atmosphere in mind.

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Further, due to the limited number of Town

employees, our officers are occasionally called

upon to handle situations that may not typically

fall within the purview of urban police officers. However, this is the “policing atmosphere” our citizens expect from our Police Department. Thus, we strive to truly be a full service agency. 

Lt. Derek Cox named new Whiteland police chief
October 1, 2025          By Elissa Maudlin (https://dailyjournal.net/author/emaudlin/)  

In what was referred to as a “difficult” decision, a new police chief has been named for the town of Whiteland.
Lt. Derek Cox was unanimously named Whiteland’s new town marshal, more commonly known as police chief, at a special town council meeting on Tuesday. He will be taking the reins after the previous police chief, Rick Shipp, retired at the start of August and Sgt. Kenneth Polley Jr. served as interim police chief.

Cox, 47 of Whiteland, has worked for the Whiteland Police Department for almost 22 years. He started as a reserve officer and was hired    full-time approximately a year and a half later. He has been moving his way up through the department since.
He has worked in public safety in Johnson County since approximately 2000. Cox’s experience also includes working for the sheriff’s office and juvenile detention center, he said.
Now head of Whiteland’s police department, Cox is filling the shoes of Shipp, who served in the department for 17 years, became chief in 2012, and had spent over 40 years in law enforcement.
“It’s everything that I’ve worked towards in my entire career, and I couldn’t be happier,” Cox said of his new position. “Couldn’t be in a better place, couldn’t have better people to work with.”
Cox decided he wanted to take on the role of chief as he started leading and running parts of the department in other roles. His first goals as chief are to get his team together, communicate effectively and get started, he said.
“I couldn’t be happier to be here and look forward to serving the community, as I have for half my life now,” Cox said.

The hiring decision wasn’t easy for the town council, council president Richard Hill and council member Tim Brown said at the meeting.
“You folks made a very difficult decision for us,” Hill said. “We did our proper vetting, due diligence, and I think we’ve come to a reasonable conclusion.”
During council remarks, Brown referenced a letter that members of the police department gave to the council about the hiring decision. The letter was written by police officers to encourage the council to consider and prioritize internal candidates, according to Julia Meece, the department’s administrative assistant.
“We believe that continuing to grow our leadership from within will not only boost morale but also inspire the next generation of officers to work with integrity and purpose,’” Meece said, reading an excerpt of a letter. “‘This is a pivotal time for our department and we ask that you give strong consideration to those who have long served this town and understand its needs and values intimately.’”
Meece said there were, to her knowledge, about eight applicants, with two of them being internal.
Brown thanked the police department for the letter, saying it “pulled a lot of weight” with the council.
“This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make on this council,” Brown said. “I know I’m not going to make everybody happy, and I know I’m going to make some people mad, but I have to do what I think is best in my decision. I just want you to know I do appreciate all the work that you guys do for us, I really do.”
Council member Joe Sayler said Tuesday that multiple candidates were close friends of his. He thanked Polley for his service as interim police chief, and, like other council members, Sayler thought the decision was “really, really, really difficult” to make.
Council vice president Deb Hendrickson added that she is glad the council had multiple good candidates to choose from. 
While council member Brad Goedeker said he was “very excited” and thanked the officers and others who gave input.
Cox will start as police chief a week from Tuesday to ensure that the appropriate transition and communication can happen, Goedeker said

____________WPD History of Town Marshals____________

1

____________Town Council Board Members____________

____________Department's Mission____________

2

Derek Cox

Town Marshal

____________Department Personnel____________

Richard Hill, President                      Brad Goedeker                  Joe Saylor

Debra Hendrickson, Vice President               Tim Brown

The Whiteland Police Department has evolved from a one-man full time force with on-call Reserve Officers in 1996 to the thirteen full-time Officers & two Reserve Officers force that exists today.  

Lifesaving Award

2024: Brian Smith

2023: Matthew Kegeris, Jeremy McKinney, Emily Vautaw, & Brian Webb

2022: Kenny Polley and Chris Wilcher

2017: Jared Donica

2016: Brian Smith and Chris Speer

2015: Derek Cox and Tyler Croy

Otto Lewis Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award

2024: Andy Mitchell                            2019: Derek Cox

2023: Kenny Polley                            2018: Brian Smith 

2022: Chris Wilcher                            2017: Todd Pershing

2021: Brian Webb                               2016: Rick Shipp

2020: Scott Doss and Vader               2015: Tyler Croy

Whiteland Police Department Employee MVP Award
2023: Julia Meece                                2022: Julia Meece

Whiteland Police Department Employee of the Year Award

2016: Roberta Groves

WPD Years of Service Pins
5 Years: Andy Mitchell, Kenny Polley, Scott Doss, Todd Pershing

10 Years: Brian Webb, Brian Smith, Tyler Croy

15 Years: Rick Shipp

20 Years: Derek Cox

____________Mission Statement____________

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____________Meet the Chief____________

Welcome!

     Full Time:                                       Civilian Full Time:                                   Part Time:

One Chief of Police                   One Operations Administrative             Two Reserve Officers

Two Lieutenants                                     Specialist                                 (ten authorized by ordinance)

Two Sergeants

Eight Police Officers

One Canine