Citizen Potawatomi Nation welcomed Kyle Webb as the new chief of police last fall.
Webb grew up in McLoud, Oklahoma, where his mother still lives.
He graduated from McLoud High School and attended the University of Oklahoma before joining the Army Reserves, where he served in Desert Shield/Storm.
“When I got back, I got hired onto the Oklahoma City Police Department in 1992,” Webb said. “I spent 25 years there.”
During his time with OKCPD, Webb served as a patrol officer, child abuse detective, supervisor, public information officer, honor guard and D.A.R.E. officer. He was a medal of valor recipient, responded to the May 3 tornadoes in the Oklahoma City area, and was on the emergency response team for the Oklahoma City Bombing.
After retiring, Webb coached softball for Putnam City High School, Rose State College and Oklahoma Baptist University.
“My daughter had always played competitive softball, and I coached her for a long time,” he said. “She went off and played in college, and when I retired, I really wanted to coach and see what that was like.”
Following his time coaching, he went back into law enforcement as assistant chief in McLoud, later becoming chief of police until 2025.
After leaving McLoud, Webb took on a job with the CPN Police just before the Fireflight Balloon Festival in August.
“I got to start completely over, which was really fun,” he said. “I hadn’t been in patrol since probably 2016 … Jordan Austin is the guy who had to train me for a little bit, and he was a year old when I got on the Oklahoma City Police Department. That was a little bit humbling. It was funny. He did a great job, and it was fun taking calls and checking buildings.”
Initially, Webb said working for CPN was just a “stop gap” until he could find something else. However, when the opportunity to serve as chief of police came up at the end of October, he was excited to take it.
“I’d really enjoyed my time at CPN,” he said. “There’s a lot of really good officers and a lot of potential.”
Learning the differences between municipality law enforcement and tribal law enforcement is an exciting challenge, Webb said, and he’s enjoying the experience. He’s also looking to the future.
One plan he wants to work on is ensuring the department is accredited. Only 4% of police departments in the state of Oklahoma are accredited. Those that do receive accreditation, he said, are able to receive assistance with liability issues and given guidance for best practices regarding policies and procedures.
“That’s one of the big things that we’re going to do,” Webb said. “I want to try to get them the resources they need to do their job and the training they need, because it’s all about training. When you stop training, that’s when bad things happen.”
Webb also wants to put a focus on what he calls community policing.
“I want our officers to be much more engaged with the citizens that either live on Tribal property or even admin or other people that are working here. I want to be more accessible to them,” he said.
He also said he’d like to have officers involved with CPN’s childcare programs, participating in activities like reading books to the children there or taking part in events like Touch a Truck.
“We have the front seat to the greatest show on earth, so this job is supposed to be something you enjoy doing. Most people get into this job for the right reasons, just because they want to help people,” he said.
Sometimes, Webb explained, law enforcement officers can become jaded because of how often they have to deal with people at their worst. However, he said he tries to encourage officers to be empathetic. When a fender bender happens, for example, it might be the third an officer has responded to that day, but for the people involved in the accident, it is still a traumatic experience.
“Treat everybody like they’re your grandmother,” he said. “Treat everybody as well as they’ll allow you to treat them. That’s basically it. This is a service-oriented profession, and you just get a lot more cooperation from people that way.”
Webb also hopes that the department will be able to move into a new space at some point, ideally with a gated area for the department’s vehicles.
Mostly, Webb talked about how important it is to make sure the officers have all the training they need.
“I really just want to make this the most professional police department in Pottawatomie County, at least, if not Oklahoma. Because they can be,” Webb said.