Did Overland Park police violate policy in shooting death of Blue Valley Northwest student?

The police shooting death of a 17-year-old Blue Valley Northwest student has raised questions about how a suicidal teenager could be fatally shot by one of the officers who arrived on the scene.

Did police have any other choice but to fire at John Albers when, in the words of the police statement, the car he was driving began “moving rapidly toward one of the responding officers”?

In fact, the officer’s decision to shoot into the vehicle could be in conflict with Overland Park Police Department policy.

Guidelines that have been in place since August 2016 under Overland Park Police Chief Frank R. Donchez Jr. stipulate that “officers will not discharge a firearm at or from a moving vehicle except in self defense or defense of another and when the suspect is using deadly force.”

If Albers was simply driving toward the officer, does the car alone constitute a lethal threat? Policing best practices suggest that it may not. And under the previous chief in Overland Park, the policy on firing into moving vehicles was even more definitive

“Our policy when I was there was that you do not shoot at or from a moving car,” said John Douglass, the former Overland Park police chief who retired in 2014.

Douglass cautioned that he’s not privy to many details surrounding the shooting early Saturday evening, and he expressed compassion for both the grieving family and the officer who fired as the young man drove out of the garage toward officers.

Yet the former chief’s standard was consistent with best practices outlined by top policing experts, including the U.S. Department of Justice and a leading police chiefs organization: A car driven toward a police officer is not, in and of itself, a lethal threat that justifies firing at the car’s driver.

Officers should be trained not to shoot at a moving vehicle unless there is an additional level of danger, such as a person threatening officers or others with a gun, according to the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and a policy developed by International Association Chiefs of Police.

The Blue Valley Northwest junior has not been reported to have had a gun in the car.

More questions stem from the fact that as officers approached Albers’ home, the garage door opened and a vehicle emerged. Exactly how much time did officers have to reposition themselves while the garage door was opening? Could they simply have moved out of the way?

These are among the many still unanswered questions, which also include whether the officers on the scene had undergone Crisis Intervention Team training for situations where the mental health of an individual is involved.

Some police departments have been reticent to codify newer thinking on shooting at vehicles, often wanting to maintain discretion on a case-by-case basis or for extraordinary circumstances. But there’s a national push to change that because firing into cars can actually create a more dangerous situation.

First, there is no guarantee that shooting the driver will stop the car. With the person now incapacitated, the vehicle might accelerate as the person’s foot presses on the gas. The car could swerve wildly, hitting people in its path. Bullets could ricochet and hit bystanders, including police.

Clearly, key pieces of information in Saturday’s shooting have not yet been made public. Overland Park must be more forthcoming as the investigation continues.

Strong police-community relations are built on openness, on police explaining their actions and protocols to the public they serve. This must include detailing why police used lethal force and taking responsibility for the outcome.

In this case, it was the worst possible for all involved, the death of a beloved young man.

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Did Overland Park police violate policy in shooting death of Blue Valley Northwest student?."