KCPD has the local prosecutor calling for changes because of 3 who were killed by them
There comes a point that one has to wonder if it is politics or actual necessity when prosecutors lose confidence in the local law enforcement community. Because of a report done by the Community Advisory Board, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Baker is calling for changes within the Kansas City Police Department and changes because of the death of 3 people. So, it is not just about the prosecutor, but it is her face that is at the forefront of the push. People have been calling for more say in local law enforcement, so now people need to see how this is handled in Kansas City.
People who say they support law enforcement need to understand that law enforcement can be hampered if the community and prosecutors have little confidence in those with a badge. The men and women who are sworn officers of the law are supposed to not just protect and serve, but also represent the community. All of this is being harmed in Kansas City with what came from the report, but it also shows how deficiencies can be fixed. I will admit not to agree with all recommendations, but they are a good start, even for other agencies around the nation.
Initial Look at Report
Here, via NPR KCUR, is what Baker had to say.
https://www.kcur.org/news/2024-12-28/kansas-city-police-officer-who-killed-3-people-should-be-fired-prosecutor-says
A report from the prosecutor examines officer-involved shootings by the Kansas City Police Department, focusing primarily on the killing of Donnie Sanders, an unarmed Black man, in March 2020.
In a report on how police shootings impact the community, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker called for Kansas City Police Officer Blayne Newton to be fired.
The 55-page report from the prosecutor’s Community Advisory Board, released on Friday, examined several police shootings in the past several years but concentrated on the killing of 47-year-old Donnie Sanders.
The name of the officer who killed Sanders — Blayne Newton — was not named in the report, but has been made public through other lawsuits.
Newton was not charged by the prosecutor’s office for Sanders' death. But the Community Advisory Board report says Newton is a threat to public safety.
“KCPD should reconsider the employment status of the officer who fatally shot Donnie Sanders to ensure that this officer no longer poses a risk to public safety,” the report said.
Donnie Sanders Shooting
Here, via CNN, is what occurred when Sanders was shot.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/02/us/kansas-city-donnie-sanders-killing/index.html
Police initially attempted to stop Sanders because he was suspected of speeding, and then failed to use a signal before turning, according to the police account Baker cited in her letter.
The prosecutor’s office said ?the KCPD ?officer suspected Sanders of speeding, and attempted to pull Sanders over for various traffic violations, on the night of March 12, 2020. After Sanders drove into a dead-end alley, a police dashcam shows the officer exit? his vehicle and run around to the driver’s side of ?Sanders’s vehicle. The officer can be heard telling dispatch that Sanders “is bailing on foot.” Though ?the video does not show what happens next, the officer can be heard on dashcam audio yelling “stop” numerous times. The officer yells “show me your hands” and yells at Sanders to “get on the ground.”
Sanders can be heard responding to the officer, but it ?is unclear what he says, “perhaps due to the Civilian’s distance away from the Officer,” Baker says. In an interview days after the shooting, the officer told investigators “that the Civilian was saying things such as ‘I’m gonna shoot you! I’m gonna get you! Better kill me, I’m gonna kill you!’,” ?according to Baker.
The officer and witnesses to the incident say Sanders “held up his hand toward the Officer ‘as if he’s got a gun,’” and “right before the shooting, the Civilian sprinted toward him as he backed up,” ?according to Baker.
The officer discharged his weapon five times, striking Sanders three times, once in the abdomen, hip, and back of the right elbow. No weapon was found on or near Sanders, though he did have a cell phone in his pocket, the prosecutor said.
A little more from the KCUR article.
The Sanders traffic stop was what is known as pretextual. Police find a reason — often a traffic violation — to stop a driver to investigate some other crime “despite lacking probable cause or even reasonable suspicion” that the driver committed a crime, according to the report.
More Incidents
Here, via more of the KCUR article, is more of what the report said.
The report also discovered a lack of transparency — or even an intentionally false narrative — when KCPD officers use force.
One of the cases cited was that of Ryan Stokes, who was shot and killed by police in 2013 in the Power and Light District. The report found Stokes’ family was treated “more like suspects than victims.”
The officers who came to the family home said Stokes had a gun, there was a standoff and he was shot when he refused to disarm. None of that was true.
“The Stokes family should not have been treated in this manner,” the report concluded.
The report also said police created a false narrative around the killing of Cameron Lamb by former Kansas City Police Detective Eric DeValkenaere. He was convicted of killing Lamb and his conviction was upheld on appeal.
Still, “the false narrative and negative view of Lamb as a criminal fleeing from police and attempting to shoot police still persists in some pockets of our community,” the report said. DeValkenaere’s sentence was commuted by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson earlier this month and he is now home with his family.
The report does praise the KCPD for requiring body cameras and for enacting a policy of having the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigate police involved shootings.
Between 2014 and February 2024, the report discovered, KCPD and the city paid out $26.5 million to settle brutality and use of force claims.
The report makes many other recommendations. Among them:
Limit pretextual car stops
Discourage officers from foot pursuits
Assign a liaison officer to help families of people shot by police
Require officers involved in a shooting to give a statement within 24 hours, as citizens are required to do.
All my links: https://linktr.ee/RedneckThinker