Christine L. Laughlin, a major in the Kansas City (Mo.) Police Department, has been named chief of university police at Missouri University of Science and Technology. She replaces William C. Bleckman, who retired in January after a 37-year career at Missouri S&T. Laughlin will begin work in Rolla on March 15.

“Maj. Laughlin’s background in law enforcement and her experience with the Kansas City Police Department make her an excellent choice to lead Missouri S&T’s police department,” says F. Stephen Malott, vice chancellor of administrative services at Missouri S&T. “I’m looking forward to working with her.”

Currently serving in the department’s information services division, Laughlin has been with the Kansas City Police Department since 1983, when she was appointed as an officer. She served on the north and east patrol divisions, the drug enforcement unit and the staff planning and administrative analysis unit.

She was promoted to sergeant in 1991, to captain in 1996 and to major in 2004. She has held positions in the fiscal planning division, the budget and internal audit unit, the north patrol division watch III, the financial service unit and the communications unit.

Laughlin has received numerous commendations. While serving as an officer, she was the first female to receive the Medal of Valor, the department’s highest award for bravery. She also received the Silver Medal for Valor from the Metropolitan Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Association and a Medal of Valor from the Northland Chamber of Commerce. Other awards include a Meritorious Service Award, a Special Unit Citation and a Unit Citation.

In 1998, Laughlin attended the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, an 11-week senior command and staff school for police executives conducted at the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Va. In 2003, she attended the Southern Police Institute Administrative Officers Course, a 12-week leadership development program conducted at the Southern Police Institute of the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky.

Laughlin holds a juris doctorate from the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law. She earned a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice in 1982 and a bachelor of science in education in 1981, both from Missouri Western State College.She is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the F.B.I. National Academy Associates and the Southern Police Institute Alumni Association.