Kristin Boyes, Police Communications Unit Supervisor

“Whatever the call is, we have to figure out what help is needed,” said Kristin Boyes, Lenexa Police Communications Unit Supervisor. “They start with us.”  

Once a collegiate softball coach, now a supervisor for dispatchers with the Lenexa Police Department, Kristin is no stranger to decision-making under pressure. Whether it’s managing high-stakes situations or providing calm guidance, she understands that emotional intelligence and crisis management are key to the job. 

“I always try to remind myself that the situation isn't happening to me,” she said. “I am safe in a room where there is no emergency. Reminding myself of that helps keep my voice and demeanor calm to assist the caller or officer that is in the emergency situation.” 

Kristin grew up in Columbus, Kansas, a small town just outside of Pittsburgh. She was an avid softball player, excelling as a catcher. Her talent and passion for the sport earned her a spot at Dodge City Community College, where she played before transferring to Emporia State University. There, she continued her softball career and worked toward a degree in physical education. 

Her favorite part of the experience? The road trips. 

“As tough as some of the long bus or van rides were, I had so much fun with my teammates,” she said. “We spent an extraordinary amount of time together every week, so they truly became my best friends.” 

While her personal athletic career ended after her time at Emporia State, Kristin’s love for the sport didn’t fade. She pursued coaching, taking on a graduate assistant position at Southwest Minnesota State University. There, she helped coach the softball team while earning a master’s degree in sports leadership. 

“When I graduated from college, I couldn't imagine myself being away from the game yet,” she said. “I always felt like one of my strongest skills as a player was the way I could see and understand the game, and coaching became a way that I could continue to use those skills.” 

After two years as a grad assistant, Kristin became the head coach at Minnesota State Moorhead, where she led the Division II team for seven years. But in 2012, wanting to be closer to family, she accepted a coaching position at North Central Missouri College. One year later, however, Kristin decided to step away from coaching. 

“It was hard,” Kristin said. “I just got to be less passionate about it.”  

Without coaching to anchor her career, Kristin found herself at a crossroads. 

“I tried insurance sales for a year and decided that was not for me,” she said.  

When she heard about openings in dispatch at the Lenexa Police Department in 2013, she applied. Though she had little idea of what the role entailed, she was intrigued by the fast-paced nature of the job and eager to dive in. 

“It was a bit overwhelming as you walk in and there’s all these computer screens and you don’t know what any of them mean,” she said. “I got to listen to the person I was shadowing answer the phone, and we took a couple of crazy calls — that was exciting.”  

The adrenaline rush was exactly what drew her in.  

“You need to be able to direct the chaos,” she said.  

For the past 12 years, that’s exactly what she’s done. 

“Every day that I come here, I have no idea what the next call is going to be or what that day is going to look like,” she said. “When it’s an exciting day here, it means it’s a bad day for someone else." 

From managing suicidal calls and accidental drownings to responding to sex crimes involving minors, shootings, and home invasions, Kristin has answered thousands of 911 calls during her career. 

“We have to decipher every call and decide what type of resources need to be allocated to them,” she said. “Whether we need to send a police officer, or if they need to talk to someone in code enforcement. We direct all those calls. We also communicate with officers on the radio, as far as dispatching them the calls, and do pretty much anything they need from getting information about the people they’re going to be contacting, vehicles they’re stopping or helping them find phone numbers. It’s being their right hand when they’re on scene. We do all that work for them behind the scenes.” 

However, despite the critical role she plays, the hardest part of Kristin’s job isn’t always the immediate pressure of the calls themselves—it's the inability to gain closure. 

“Ending your shift, not knowing how things turn out, can be difficult,” she said. “There have been days that I get home, because I've got a long drive home, and I call back in ask, ‘Can you tell me what happened so I can actually go to sleep? I can't sleep until I know the outcome of that call.’” 

After nine years of answering calls on the front lines, Kristin saw an opportunity to take on a supervisory role. 

“I’ve always gravitated toward leadership roles, like in coaching and all of that,” she said. “It feels like it fits my personality. When I was coaching, and now, I try to do things the right way to set a good example.”  
 
That means being proactive, like pulling up nearby surveillance footage when an officer is making a traffic stop, ensuring there’s extra support if needed. 

“There are so many little things that we do that are extra, but not everybody does it,” she said. “I try to do things the right way so that can be the example that I set. I can’t expect you to do something that I’m not already doing myself.” 

Even in her leadership role, Kristin still takes shifts on the floor, answering calls alongside her team. 

“I truly feel that I work alongside the best dispatchers and officers around,” Kristin said. “Everyone takes pride in serving the citizens of Lenexa on a daily basis.” 

Kristin lives in Kearney, Missouri, with her wife, Linda, and their 8-year-old daughter Mackie. They also have two adult children, Rachel and Nathan. Outside of work, Kristin enjoys golfing, traveling to tropical destinations and attending Mackie’s sporting events.  

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Published April 13, 2025