Why did Overland Park secretly pay severance to police officer who killed John Albers?

A police officer checking on an Overland Park teen’s welfare not only ended up shooting the young man to death, but then left the department with an ample severance package.

That latter information was a stunning revelation last weekend for Steve and Sheila Albers — who had to learn online, two years later, the details of a $70,000 severance payment for the officer who killed their 17-year-old son John.

Sheila Albers, acting on a tip and a hunch, learned that the officer had earned $81,040 in 2018 — even though he left the department not long after the Jan. 20 shooting that year. That led the Albers to believe the officer was paid to go away.

In fact, he was.

Sean Reilly, communications manager for the city of Overland Park, issued a statement Tuesday explaining that $70,000 of the $81,040 was severance money. “The city has never denied that such an agreement exists,” Reilly said.

Yet, when an Albers family friend requested the severance document through a Kansas Open Records Act request in July 2018, the city denied the request and kept the severance agreement secret.

Overland Park City Councilman Paul Lyons, who now chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee, also confirmed to The Star Editorial Board that Officer Clayton Jenison did receive a severance package. Lyons defended the payment, saying a third-party investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of the officer — and that therefore he couldn’t be fired. An agreement for the officer to leave of his own accord was best for all involved, Lyons said.

Forgive the Albers if they disagree on all counts.

They believe the officer shooting 13 times at their son, who was backing a family vehicle out of the garage at the time, was unjustified. And they say Police Chief Frank Donchez was less than forthright when he failed to disclose the existence of a severance package in a television interview in February 2019.

In fact, in that interview with FOX4 News, Donchez said Jenison was not encouraged to leave the department.

“He left before we even had those discussions,” the chief explained in the interview.

But since there was a severance package, that would clearly indicate a discussion about the officer’s future with the department did, in fact, take place.

“We’re like, ‘that is a bold-faced lie,’” Sheila Albers said of the chief’s 2019 assertion.

Chief Donchez declined comment, referring questions to the city manager or city attorney. Inquiries to those officials appear to have led to Reilly’s official statement confirming the severance.

At a moment when the country is wrestling with serious questions about law enforcement’s use of excessive force and a lack of transparency, the circumstances of John Albers’ death have additional resonance. Steve Albers, John’s father, wrote in a recent guest column for The Star that although his son is white, he understands the outrage about George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis and the frustration with the lack of transparency in law enforcement, adding that he’s ashamed it took so long to comprehend what minorities have dealt with for decades.

“We have systematic injustices occurring across the country,” Sheila Albers said. “If we’re hoping to correct those injustices, transparency has to be the first step.”

They are just as disheartened with the City Council, which they see as too unquestioning of the police department.

“In my opinion, there’s too much blind faith,” Sheila Albers said.

The Albers don’t share that blind faith, and always suspected there was a severance agreement with the officer who killed their son.

That they had to learn that fact via their own online sleuthing only adds insult to tragic injury.

This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 4:05 PM.