By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Stepping down as chief of police in Claflin may or may not be in the cards for Gary Vaughan. Now a healthy 72 years old, Vaughan has expressed interest in moving to a lesser role with the city. He said that will depend on the ability to hire a qualified candidate.
"I asked the city council to try to fill the position of chief of police," he said. "I said I'd like to still continue to help out a couple days a week and do the code enforcement, but as far as the on-call and responsibility, I've had enough of it. Forty-five years in law enforcement, four years with Uncle Sam, I still want to do what I want to do, but I just don't want to constantly be married to the city of Claflin."
Chiefs of police are always on call but that means more in a small town where chiefs handle not only administrative duties but also work patrol shifts. Vaughan also helped revamp city code enforcement policies in 2015. He would like to continue that role as he believes that code enforcement helped the city turn 75-95 criminal cases a year in 1989 to just nine criminal cases filed in a two-year stretch prior to 2023.
"Our city ordinance allowed for me to go to the judge to get warrants, place them in jail, serve notices to appear," said Vaughan. "Once people realized the city was going to stand behind it, we tore down a lot of houses, people cleaned up a lot of houses, a lot of people sold the junk houses and, since then they've been torn down. We've had about 10 new houses built here in town. That's great for a small town like this."
Vaughan served in the Navy Honor Guard from 1970 to 1974. His law enforcement career began four years later in Valley Center, then he moved north to work in Russell. Starting in 1980, he worked four years as an officer in Great Bend, earning the rank of sergeant. He moved to the Barton County Sheriff's Office in 1984, where he earned the rank of captain working under Gene Marks for four years before Marks lost the 1988 election.
He first served as chief of police in Claflin in 1989, writing most of the department's policies and procedures from the ground up. In 2001, he moved back to the Barton County Sheriff's Office and served as undersheriff until 2009, when he retired.
At the request of then-Claflin Chief Robert Gunder, Vaughan returned to Claflin part-time in 2011. That transitioned back into the role of chief and the new code enforcement officer job in 2015. Vaughan handed the reigns over to another officer in 2019, but that was only temporary. Vaughan was renamed chief of police in 2020 and has held that role since.
Now ready to take on a lesser role with the city, Vaughan still feels he has a lot invested in the community and he wishes to continue to serve. If no qualified applicants apply, he is willing to hang onto the title of chief. If an experienced officer is found for the role, Vaughan is willing to train that officer.