Another KC media outlet sues Overland Park for records in fatal police shooting of teen
A Kansas City television station has sued the City of Overland Park for access to records concerning the 2018 fatal police shooting of 17-year-old John Albers.
41 Action News, or KSHB, filed a lawsuit Tuesday to obtain the Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Team’s file into the shooting, which the station claims is a public document under the Kansas Open Records Act.
On Jan. 20, 2018, Albers was backing out of his family’s garage when Officer Clayton Jenison shot him six times. The officer had been called to the Albers’ home on a welfare check on the teen who was believed to be suicidal.
Wednesday is the third anniversary of his death.
Jenison left the department effective March 2018, following the fatal shooting. He was paid $70,000 in severance when he left the department.
The Star in October also filed a lawsuit against Overland Park. The suit argues for Jenison’s resignation and severance agreement, saying that it too should be turned over under the open records law. The case is ongoing.
Overland Park denies requests for records
According to KSHB’s lawsuit, the Johnson County police shooting investigation team was formed in 2005 and has investigated more than 25 incidents. None have resulted in an officer being charged.
On Feb. 6, 2020, the TV station requested the team’s file on the Albers shooting under the open records act. The city denied the request, claiming it was a criminal investigation record and therefore exempt. The Star’s request for the file was also denied.
The file should be disclosed, the KSHB lawsuit said, because doing so would not interfere with an investigation, would not endanger anyone and would not reveal investigative procedures. Its release is also in the public’s interest, the lawsuit said.
“Release of this file will either show Jenison’s use of force was reasonable (thereby restoring the public’s faith in its local government), or show it was not (thereby validating the belief by many that the City is engaged in a cover-up),” the 61-page suit read.
In a Jan. 24, 2018, statement Overland Park Mayor Carl Gerlach said the team was conducting a criminal investigation and its findings would be turned over to the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office for review.
“These findings will be made public at the appropriate time,” the mayor said in a statement posted on social media.
District Attorney Steve Howe declined to file charges against Jenison.
The lawsuit said many of Howe’s statements on the decision “appear to lack any factual support,” including the claim that Jenison was standing directly behind the vehicle and that Albers drove “in an aggressive manner.” The direction of the bullets suggest that Jenison was to the side of the minivan and a reconstruction of the events found Albers was backing out of the garage at 2.5 mph, the lawsuit said.
In July, more the two year’s after the shooting, the Overland Park Police Department enacted an amended use of force policy, which stipulates that officers will not shoot at or from a moving vehicle “unless someone inside the vehicle is using or threatening lethal force ... by means other than the vehicle itself.”
The only exception to the new policy is when the suspect appears to be using a vehicle as a weapon of mass destruction in an act of terrorism.
The city said Wednesday afternoon that they had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
“We will answer any allegations through the court,” spokesman Sean Reilly said.
A mother’s push for answers
Sheila Albers, the teen’s mother, said the fight for records means closure for her family as well as government transparency.
“That transparency could cause changes in policy, better training and hopefully prevent any future loss of life,” she said Wednesday, the three-year anniversary of her son’s shooting.
“Our philosophy in our house, is that we’re doers. So I don’t sit around very often just dwelling on it — I mean, I have moments of sadness, no doubt. But I would rather have a task that I need to get done to work towards change because that honors my son and it will hopefully improve something for the community.”
The FBI also continues a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting.
The Star’s Bob Cronkleton and Katie Bernard contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 1:38 PM.
