Platte County judge holds release of KCK police shooting footage during records dispute
The Kansas City Police Department will — temporarily — be prohibited from releasing documents from two fatal police shootings across the state line, a judge ruled Tuesday.
The records were requested by The Star under Missouri’s Sunshine Law, after KCPD was brought in to investigate police shootings in Kansas City, Kansas.
Last Thursday, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK filed a lawsuit against the KCPD. The Unified Government then sought a temporary restraining order to hold the records’ release.
Platte County Circuit Judge Myles Perry granted the request on Tuesday.
In 2022, the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department and KCPD entered into an interstate agreement saying the agencies could call on each other to investigate critical incidents, like police shootings.
KCKPD requested assistance from KCPD five times, including on two fatal police shootings.
The Star in April and June requested the case files from the shootings of John Anderton and Amaree’ya Henderson from KCPD, after Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree declined to file charges against the officers, and the criminal investigations were closed.
Under Missouri’s Sunshine Law, case files are subject to open records requests once an investigation has concluded. In Kansas, the disclosure is at the discretion of the district attorney, police department or other public officials.
After months of waiting, Bernie Rhodes, an attorney for The Star, sent an email on Oct. 16 to KCPD’s Office of General Counsel inquiring about the delay. The Unified Government filed its lawsuit the next day.
Ryan Denk, an attorney representing the Unified Government, said Tuesday in court that they have made requests to KCPD for the materials to be returned, and a number of files have been given back on a hard drive. The twist, he said, is that KCPD has a records management system where some materials, including body worn camera footage and dashboard camera footage, are still stored with the Missouri department. Those recordings are what the Unified Government is most intersted in getting back, he said. Denk went on to say that the files are the property of KCK.
The record requesters, he said, are trying to do an “end around” on the Kansas Open Records Act.
Lisa Krigsten, an attorney representing KCPD, said because the prosecutor had concluded his review of the case for possible charges, the case files were considered open records, and the department needs to respond to the records requests. She said the department was ready to turn over the documents absent a temporary restraining order.
Additionally, she said, the department’s policy mandates that they upload investigative materials to their content management system.
Judge Perry first questioned why the case was filed in Platte County when KCPD’s headquarters are in Jackson County. Denk said the department has a presence in Platte, Jackson and Clay counties. Krigsten said she wasn’t going to challenge where the case was heard.
Perry said the case hinges on the interpretation of the agreement between the Unified Government and KCPD allowing the cross-agency investigations.
One section says, “Dissemination of records will be in accordance with the laws of the State of the Agency holding the records.”
Another part stipulates that the original file is to be returned if charges are filed.
And another section says, “the parties do not contemplate acquiring real or personal property.”
The next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 6.
This story was originally published October 22, 2024 at 3:33 PM.
