Colonel Herman T. Jones, Superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol, announced that Lt. Daniel DiLoreto, an area native and former Great Bend Police officer, has been promoted to Captain and will oversee the KHP’s Professional Standards Unit (PSU). 

DiLoreto, a 1999 graduate of Macksville High School, grew up on a farm near Radium. As a young man, he spent a lot of time working in Great Bend, which continued well into his law enforcement career.

As long as he can remember, he wanted to go into law enforcement.

“I had a great uncle who retired from the Secret Service. He always talked to me about his career, so it was always intriguing to me,” DiLoreto said.

After entering law enforcement, he worked as a patrol officer for the GBPD from 2003-2007, a time he still remembers with fondness. 

“It’s honestly still some of the most fun times ever I’ve ever had in law enforcement. They are a really good group of guys and there was just enough to keep busy all the time. I really enjoyed it.”

After joining the KHP and graduating the Training Academy in 2007, he began his KHP career in Barton County, where DiLoreto received a Commander’s Commendation for activity, seat belt, and child seat safety in 2009. 

After five years there, DiLoreto transferred to Sedgwick County and was promoted to Master Trooper in 2012, where he spent more than nine years on the KHP special response team. In that department, he spent three years as a full-time team leader.

In 2020, DiLoreto was promoted to Lieutenant in the PSU. 

The PSU is an impartial, fact-finding investigative unit that deals with allegations of misconduct, citizen complaints and administrative investigations for KHP employees. As captain, DiLoreto will oversee those investigations. PSU is also the data collection point for all vehicle pursuits and response to arrest resistance incidents conducted by the agency. 

“We’re able to get that data, looking at training policy equipment needs, and give those reports to the colonel, back to the training academy,” he said. “We’re always trying to improve our training, improve our policies and best practices.”

In law enforcement, DiLoreto enjoys the chance to do something different each day. He also enjoys dealing with people, even on their worst days.

“If I’m able to help or improve the situation, I take pride in that. At the end of the day, you can always feel like you’ve helped others. There’s always a sense of accomplishment of what you did for your day,” he said.

Even after close to 20 years in law enforcement, he still enjoys what he does each day.

DiLoreto is married with three children. His two daughters are grown, one living in Wichita and the other attending school at Bethany College. His son still lives at home. He also recently became a first-time grandfather, which he described as, “the best thing ever.”

In his spare time, he enjoys motorcycle riding.