Kent Shafer spent 33 1/2  years with the Columbus, Ohio Division of Police, including 18 years as a commander, retiring in July 2012. He has held assignments in patrol, traffic, gang, street crime and narcotics units, and the business office. His primary responsibilities in the gang, Street crime and narcotics units were the direct Supervision of covert officers, development and implementation of complex undercover investigations and control of informants.

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His last assignment was commander of the Division's Strategic Response Bureau, which he designed and created in 1996 to implement the Division's Mission Aligned Policing Philosophy (M.A.P.P.), an accomplishment for which he was awarded the Washington Times Foundation National Service Award. Commander Shafer directed community oriented policing and problem solving activities, along with crime analysis, investigative, intelligence, and enforcement operations directed at gangs, threat groups, career criminals, domestic terrorism, and related street crime activities. Commander Shafer held a U.S. Government Secret-level Clearance, related to these assignments.

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Mr. Shafer also commanded the Business & Personnel Bureau where he directed budgeting, purchasing, recruiting, hiring, personnel, payroll, and property control activities for the Division.

He is a graduate of the F.B.I. National Academy, has undergraduate degrees in electronics engineering and business administration, and has completed post-graduate studies toward a Master's Degree in Public Administration. His research and writing interests include police crime analysis, gangs, community-oriented policing, and police organizational reform, and he is the author of numerous articles in international law enforcement publications.

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Mr. Shafer is a founder of Crime Intelligence Advantage, LLC, an organization providing professional consultation to law enforcement agencies regarding crime analysis and intelligence technology.

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Mr. Shafer was elected as an At-large Member of the Delaware OH City Council in November 2013 and in 2015 was elected Vice-Mayor. In addition, he serves on the editorial review committee for Police Practice & Research: An International Journal. Kent also is a member of the Franklin University (OH) Criminal Justice Academic Advisory Board, and serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Ohio State University.