In light of recent events in our country, the Leawood Police Department has received many different requests for information and has established many lines of communication with our public. After conversations with the Johnson County NAACP, we’d like share our responses to their Call to Action.

NAACP Call to Action Response (PDF)

So that we can continue this open dialogue with our citizens, we also have this compilation of responses to frequently asked questions:

What is done to ensure officers are doing their jobs correctly?

Employees of the Leawood Police Department are held to a high level of conduct set by both city and department guidelines. Supervisors regularly review video of officers’ interactions with the public and take corrective action if they observe a violation.

The department also has a public complaint process, including the acceptance of anonymous complaints for investigation. Once received, a complaint is investigated by the department’s Professional Standards Officer. The Professional Standards Officer will then interview the complainant (if known), the officer(s) involved and review body worn, in-car and any other video of the incident before forwarding the investigation to the Chief of Police.

Do Leawood officers have body-worn cameras?

Thanks to the support of our city council five years ago we were able to provide body cameras to all of our front line, non-administrative personnel. These systems are linked to their in-car systems. The cameras are activated by several automatic triggers such as turning on their patrol car’s emergency lights. Officers are required to ensure their camera systems are activated a) during all enforcement and investigative contacts; b) on traffic stops; c) any self-initiated activity involving the public; d) any other contact that could become adversarial.

These videos are automatically downloaded and saved to department servers that only allow officers to review the videos, but not to copy, edit or otherwise manipulate the video.

What is a Use of Force?

The Leawood Police Department defines a use of force as “the application of physical techniques or tactics, chemical agents or weapons to another person.” Our agency instructs a variety of use of force techniques ranging from hand-to-hand judo-based movements to the use of oleoresin capsicum (OC/pepper spray), energy conducted weapons up to lethal force. We do not teach choke holds or any type of hold or restraint involving a person’s neck.

What determines the ‘force’ used?

Our officers are vested with the authority to use objectively reasonable force in carrying out their duties and may only use the amount of force necessary to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose. This force should cease once the unstable situation or threat has been mitigated. Additionally, our policy includes the duty to intercede if other officers on scene see an unreasonable use of force. Any complaint of injury necessitates that a supervisor respond to the scene of the event.

Does your department have a Use of Force Continuum?

We discontinued the use of a use-of-force-continuum in the early 2000s. Such a document, which in generalities states that ‘if faced with this, do this,’ because it is not practical to have one guiding document to guide 62 police officers of varying ages, genders and physical ability. Instead, we rely on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Graham v. Conner (490 U.S. 386 – 1989) which set a standard of ‘balancing the nature and quality of the intrusion of the individual’s Fourth Amendment interests.’ To be more succinct, we look at the individual officer’s age, gender, physical ability and past training in reviewing each use of force rather than a formal matrix. We have different expectations on the amount of force an officer who is a six-foot-three, 260 pound former football player would use in a given situation compared to a five-foot-three, 130-pound officer.

Are chokeholds or strangleholds part of your use of force policy?

The Leawood Police Department does not include the use of chokeholds or strangleholds in any part of our Use of Force policy nor do we teach these to our officers.

Are officers banned from shooting at moving vehicles?

Our current policy states “shots fired at a moving vehicle are rarely effective. Officers should attempt to move out of the path of an approaching vehicle instead of discharging their firearm at the vehicle or any of its occupants. An officer should only discharge a firearm at a moving vehicle or its occupants when the officer reasonably believes there are no other reasonable means available to avert the threat of the vehicle.” We have chosen this language, rather than a ban on shooting at vehicles, after reviewing the use of vehicles as weapons.

Are officers trained to de-escalate instead of use force?

Every police officer has received and continues to receive de-escalation training. Officers are trained to use these skills, when possible, but we don’t require something be considered given the dynamic nature of each use of force incident.

Do officers have to give warnings before using force?

Just as with de-escalation, this would certainly be encouraged, but the vast number of police shootings are measured in seconds. LPD’s Use of Force policy states “a verbal warning should precede the use of deadly force, where feasible.”

Do officers have to use other means of force before shooting someone?

Our agency’s Use of Force policy explicitly states “Officers shall use only that amount of force that reasonably appears necessary given the facts and circumstances perceived by the officer at the time of the event to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose.” We provide officers and train them in the use of hand-to-hand skills, pepper spray, conducted energy weapons, batons as levels of force before resorting to the use of deadly force.

Are the uses of force documented and reviewed?

Once the event is complete, officers are required to document every use of force, including the pointing of a firearm at a person. Each of these uses of force is reviewed by the officers’ supervisor, a division commander and the Chief of Police to determine a) were the officer’s actions lawful; b) were they within the procedures of the Leawood Police Department; c) were they within common practices of our agency; d) were any training issues identified in reviewing this incident?

Officer involved shootings are first investigated by outside investigators coordinated through the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office before any internal investigation is begun.

Do officers have a duty to stop excessive force by others?

Our department’s policies require ‘any officer present and observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which is objectively reasonable under the circumstance shall intercede to prevent the use of unreasonable force. An officer who observes another employee use force that exceeds the degree of force permitted by law should promptly report these to a supervisor.’

What type of training do police officers receive?

Every police officer in the State of Kansas is required to complete an initial course of instruction of more than 600 hours that is designed and administered by the Kansas Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Each subsequent year the State of Kansas requires an officer to complete a minimum of 40 hours of continuing education including training in bias based policing. Officers who have specialties, such as instructors and training officers, will often exceed the state-mandated minimum hours.

Are officers trained to deal with the mentally ill?

With the steady increase in mental health related calls the last few years, the Leawood Police Department in 2018 joined the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s One Mind Campaign. To date, more than half of our officers and more than a third of our civilian staff have completed the 40-hour national Crisis Intervention Team training program. Ten others have completed the eight-hour Mental Health First Aid program. We have also entered into a program with the Johnson County Mental Health Center in which a trained mental health co-responder is available to respond with officers to assist citizens in mental distress. Finally, we have adopted specific policies on how our officers are to respond to persons affected by mental illness.

What is the department doing to communicate with the citizens it serves?

Our agency is proud of the relationships we have developed with the citizens we serve. We regularly participate in a variety of events around the metropolitan area sponsored by the NAACP of Overland Park, Olathe and Leawood; the NAACP of Johnson County and the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault to maintain open lines of communication.

Residents of Leawood are invited to join the NextDoor app so that we can provide safety alerts as well as informational announcements to our citizens. Feedback is also sought through an on-line survey in which citizens who’ve had contact with our officers are asked to provide anonymous input on their interaction.

Finally, for more than a quarter century we have offered a 10-week Citizens Police Academy. This program invites residents and those who work in Leawood into our Justice Center to learn more about our agency and, more importantly, the people who make up our agency. Through this program we answer questions and have formed lasting bonds with hundreds of past participants in this free program.