Chief Jody Kasper

In her 23-year career, Chief Kasper has accomplished much. As the first female chief in her department, and one of only 15 female chiefs in the state of Massachusetts, she is working diligently to ensure that many more women are prepared for leadership positions. 

Chief Kasper has been a NAWLEE member for several years having presented at the Annual NAWLEE Conference on the topic of Ready to Rise. She has offered other trainings such as Rising Up which discusses the differences between how men and women are socialized from youth through adulthood, how these differences have an impact on future career success, and how to move beyond barriers. 

Chief Kasper joined the 30×30 Initiative jointly launched by NAWLEE in partnership with the Policing Project at the NY School of Law. Chief Kasper led the way by being the first in the state of Massachusetts to sign the pledge. Most recently, Chief Kasper reported the first ever, all female patrol shift in the history of her department. 

Chief Kasper developed a nationally recognized award-winning Drug Addiction Recovery Team program that pairs police officer with recovery coaches.  Chief Kasper was the first chief of police in Western Massachusetts to approve one of her department members to develop a comfort dog program.

The department became a member of President Obama’s Police Data Initiative. Chief Kasper presented her findings to a contingent of law enforcement leaders at the White House as a “how to” accomplish transparency.

Chief Kasper has published 3 books: How cops die: Understanding and preventing duty-related deaths; Police leadership: Motivation and morale in the public sector and Progressive police supervision: A simple and effective approach for managing a police agency.

Chief Kasper is on the Executive Board for Hampshire Heroin/Opioid Prevention and Education, a member of the Westfield State Criminal Justice Alumni Hall of Fame, is on the Executive Committee of the Western Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, served as a commissioner with the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, was a member of the Massachusetts Governor’s Task Force on Hate Crime, is on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Municipal Police Institute is a member of Fight Crime – Invest in Kids, and was the 2018 recipient of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts ‘She Changes the World’ award.

Chief Kasper is well respected by her colleagues, team members, and community. She successfully promotes the NAWLEE priorities of lead, inspire, and mentor on daily basis and she is a role model for all.