After officer’s assault charge, will KC police board protect the public or the police?
Kansas City’s Board of Police Commissioners must take immediate steps Tuesday to restore public confidence in a force rattled by allegations of brutality.
The five-member board is expected to discuss a series of resolutions to improve policing in the community. The proposals, by Mayor Quinton Lucas, would codify an officer’s duty to intervene if they see excessive force, would begin moving to an independent police complaints process and would protect whistleblowers.
The immediate need for these reforms became abundantly clear Friday, after a Jackson County grand jury charged an officer with felony assault for allegedly slamming a teenager’s face into concrete and kneeling on his head last November.
At least two police officers were within a few feet of Sgt. Matthew Neal and the young suspect when the assault allegedly occurred in the parking lot of a restaurant at 51st Street and Troost Avenue. At least nine other officers stood nearby that November evening.
Yet records suggest that no one intervened as Neal allegedly pushed his knee into the head of the 15-year-old, 138-pound suspect. Eventually, the young man said he could not breathe.
The department has claimed that it already has a policy requiring intervention in excessive force events. Why was it not used? Were any officers disciplined for failing to intervene? Police board members should insist on answers to those questions Tuesday.
The board should require all officers to actively interrupt when they see the use of excessive police force. Failure to do so should mean serious, public discipline.
Department policy should also protect officers who come forward to identify misconduct in their ranks. It’s clear Kansas City officer Kevin Summers, who stood at the young suspect’s feet Nov. 14, provided critical eyewitness testimony to the Office of Community Complaints, and he testified before the grand jury.
He may be called to testify at the trial. The department and the police board must use every tool to protect Summers as the case proceeds. And Tuesday, the board should enact new regulations protecting whistleblowers who disclose misconduct in their ranks.
These steps are especially important because the Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police has apparently taken sides in the case. On Friday, it said, “We will support our brother as this matter proceeds to court, where we are confident that he will be ultimately exonerated.”
Incredibly, the Fraternal Order of Police made clear that it’s backing the officer who allegedly gashed the 15-year-old’s face and broke two of his teeth — not the officer who described the misconduct he witnessed.
Summers deserves support, too, including the support of the FOP. Sgt. Neal is under criminal indictment. Summers is not. FOP President Brad Lemon did not respond to a request for comment.
Finally, all of Kansas City should welcome an independent conduct review board for the police. Officer Dylan Pifer was part of the arrest Nov. 14, and a complaint against him was originally sustained by the Office of Community Complaints.
After pressure from Chief Rick Smith’s office, that decision was overturned, and the record erased. The decision will lead to even more cynicism about the office’s relationship with the department it is supposed to supervise.
There should be other questions Tuesday. On Friday, Chief Smith said Sgt. Neal was placed on administrative leave after the Office of Community Complaints investigation, and “he will continue to be until the outcome of the proceedings.”
It isn’t clear if the leave is paid or unpaid.
But Kansas City Police Department procedural directive 16-2 says “the Chief of Police will ... suspend a member without pay pending the outcome of criminal charges if the prosecutor files criminal charges or the grand jury returns a ‘True Bill.’ “
The directive may apply only to incidents involving discharge of a firearm by an officer — the language is murky, and the department did not comment Monday. If so, that would lead to an absurd situation where an officer using a fist to hurt a suspect would be more protected than an officer who uses a gun.
Commissioners should ask if Neal has been suspended, without pay, now that a grand jury has handed up an indictment.
Current members of the police board have insisted they can adequately represent the community. Yet the board continues to keep its meetings closed to in-person testimony, an unfortunate practice that will continue Tuesday.
Kansas City will be watching nonetheless, to see if the board protects the public, or the police. We’ll have a better understanding of that when the meeting ends.
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 5:00 AM.