Aaron Moses spent a lot of time at Levitt Arena when he was younger. And, although it was much improved during its 2002-2003 renaissance and subsequent rebirth as Charles Koch Arena, there is one part of the old arena Moses appreciated: its seating. “The wooden bleachers made perfect tables to do your homework,” he says. “During elementary and middle school, I did homework in the stands during women’s and men’s basketball games.”
Later, when Moses – now a Wichita police officer – was going through police training, he returned to his old study habits. “I would sit in the stands during volleyball and basketball games and go through the policy manual,” he says.
These days, Moses is again studying, this time as a criminal justice graduate student at Wichita State. “I’m the third person in my family to come here,” he says about following in the footsteps of his mother, Terri (Richter) Moses ’80/90 and brother, Andrew Moses ’13. “We’re a Shocker family.”
Rounding out the familial Shocker connections is his father, David Moses, who serves as general counsel at WSU.
An appreciation for Wichita State wasn’t the only thing he picked up at home. Observing his mother, who worked for the Wichita Police Department for 32 years, gave him a pretty good idea of what career path he wanted to take. “I grew up in (law enforcement) and around it,” he says. “I always knew I wanted to be an officer.”
Terri Moses, a former WSU Alumni Association board of directors president (2003-2004) who now works as executive director of safety services for Wichita public schools, says that when her son was younger, he enjoyed riding along with other officers and liked to attend various community events, including National Night Out, with her.
“I’m very proud of the fact that Aaron has taken a public service career, that he enjoys working with people,” she says. “He’s really interested in improving the quality of life in our community, and he’s committed to making Wichita a better place.”
The long-term plan for Moses, who has been a Wichita police officer for four years now, is to become a leader within the department. With that goal in mind, he minored in leadership studies while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at Washburn University, his father’s alma mater. To bolster his credentials even more, he’s taking classes at Wichita State that delve into such issues as homeland security, crime prevention and criminal theory. He is on track to graduate with a master’s degree in criminal justice in May 2017.
Community Cookout on July 17 at McAdams Park,
where he had fun meeting members of the community
— and dancing. With “Cha Cha Slide” blaring from
speakers set up in the park, he wasted no time in
joining the impromptu dance party. Although he knew
cameras were rolling, he had no idea his dance moves
would get more than 3 million views after being posted
online. He hopes the main purpose of the cookout —
to have an open discussion between police and
community members — isn’t lost on the video’s viewers.
“I want to be able to impact officers and the city on a larger scale,” he says. “I love Wichita. I want to help the people and the city to be successful.”
Given the national state of the relationship between police and their communities, these efforts are sometimes challenging. “To say we didn’t have issues in Wichita would be naïve,” he says. “It’s important to look at the national climate, but we deal with our community in our own unique way.”
Since Wichita’s problems are its own, the responses must be tailored to fit them. To that end, members of the WPD participated in the First Steps Community Cookout at McAdams Park in July.
While having a good time at the cookout, Moses joined an impromptu dance party. He knew cameras were rolling, but he had no idea his dance moves would get more than 3 million views after being posted online. He hopes the purpose of the cookout – to have an open discussion between police and community members – isn’t lost on the video’s viewers.
“We’re not going to solve everything with one cookout, but getting the dialogue started is important,” he says. “It takes work on everybody’s part.”
Moses is doing the best he can to encourage that dialogue. “The only way for the community to move forward is through trust, care and compassion,” he says. “We have to be able to trust and feel compassion for
each other.”
In addition to the initial cookout in July, the WPD hosted four more of these community gatherings, one in each of the four patrol districts – North, East, South and West – before school started this fall. “Hopefully, they were able to see through the badge and the uniform and see the person,” Moses says. “We wanted people who aren’t necessarily comfortable around police to be comfortable.” He adds that he has recently seen a few more friendly waves, but knows there is still much work to be done.
Moses, who works the night shift in Patrol East’s territory, doesn’t usually have a lot of time while he’s working to have one-on-one conversations with community members he encounters, but he does want them to know he cares. “I’m out there trying to do the best job that I can,” he says.
Many of the situations to which e is called are difficult, and in the middle of the night, he often deals with people who are scared, angry or intoxicated.
In light of this, he appreciates the times when things aren’t so tense, such as when he stops by a church in his beat during the Saturday night youth basketball games it hosts. Occasionally, he sees kids with whom he’s previously had less than positive interactions. “To see them playing basketball instead of out getting into trouble, that’s a happy ending,” he says. “Sometimes it’s hard to see those.”
One of the most dramatic positive results Moses has gotten to experience happened in January 2015 when he helped save two occupants of a car that had crashed into a frozen pond.
“It was upside down in the ice, and we made the decision to wade in,” he says of himself and fellow officers Brek Train, Dane Myers and Zachary Gehring. For their life-saving efforts the officers received the Kansas Gold Award for Exceptional Service from the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police and a Bronze Wreath from the Wichita Police Department.
His mom wasn’t at all surprised to learn about her son’s actions that night. “He’s always very willing to work with and help people,” she says.
Indeed, when it comes to actively helping forge better relationships between police and the community he works to serve and protect, Moses has shown he’s up for just about anything: whether that’s taking an icy swim, dropping in on youth basketball games – or busting out a move or two.
