Linn Creek Police Chief Moves Up To Lake Ozark Following Launderville’s Retirement

Current Linn Creek Police Chief Jeffrey Christiansen is now the presumptive next chief in the City of Lake Ozark.

The City Board of Alderman has called a special meeting for Thursday January 5^th where a vote is expected to make his hiring official to succeed current chief Gary Launderville who announced his retirement around a month ago.

City Administrator Harrison Frye says Christiansen proved himself the best fit among a field of 10 applicants…

“Each bringing something different, all at different stages in their career, some with different histories, with smaller organizations, larger organizations, some with robust administrative experience, some with robust patrol experience. We had a very good mix of candidates, so ultimately, the committee brought in three individuals for interviews and the community ride alongs with the police department. And of those three, again, each of them brought something unique to the table for consideration. As far as Christiansen is concerned….he spent much of his career doing police accreditation training development for DuPage county sheriff’s department in Illinois, where he’s originally from, put in more than a couple of decades there, moved to the lake. The Ozarks area has been serving as a police chief for the department here and has been helping them move forward. And as he applied for the job, we looked at the resume and saw that it spoke for itself. So he brings at the table years of practical experience as a police officer, as a police administrator, and as a police chief.”

The retiring chief is leaving after more than 4 decades in law enforcement and 8 years as the Lake Ozark Chief.

The incoming chief is a nearly 4 decade law enforcement officer having served in the past as a deputy in Illinois and he’s served as chief in Linn Creek since August 2021.