A warning to KC police: Keeping innocent teen in jail could be an expensive mistake
A federal appeals court sent a timely and important warning Wednesday to Kansas City police: You are not protected if you clearly violate someone’s constitutional rights.
That was the message in a ruling handed down by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a 2-1 decision, the judges reinstated a lawsuit against two Kansas City police officers involved in a mistaken arrest in 2016.
The case made headlines at the time. Two officers, Peter Neukirch and Jonathan Munyan, were summoned to a southtown neighborhood to investigate reports that teenagers were mishandling guns.
The officers confronted a trio of teenagers, one of whom disposed of a weapon and fled. A few minutes later, officers near the scene arrested Tyree Bell, who was 15 at the time.
Munyan and Neukirch identified Bell as the fleeing suspect.
Only it wasn’t true. As the appeals court noted, “Bell and the suspect shared only generic characteristics in common: Black, juvenile, and male.” Bell was taller than the suspect, the court said; had different hair, wore different clothes, showed no signs of running from police.
“There was not arguable probable cause to believe Bell was the fleeing suspect,” the court said Wednesday.
That didn’t stop the police in 2016. Instead, Bell was taken into juvenile custody, where he stayed until the department sorted out the facts and let him go. Police actually had video evidence of his innocence, yet Bell sat in the Jackson County Juvenile Detention Center for three weeks.
Bell sued. A circuit judge dismissed the case, claiming the officers had “qualified immunity” from liability for their mistake.
But the Court of Appeals reinstated the lawsuit with a commonsense decision: Officers are allowed to err, but they can’t ignore evidence that exonerates a suspect.
“Qualified immunity requires more than subjective good faith,” the judges said. “It requires objectively reasonable official conduct.” The officers’ lack of diligence violated that standard, the court said.
A department spokesman declined to comment Wednesday.
Taxpayers could be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars if this case goes to trial or is settled. That’s money the city could use for street repairs, or police expenses, or any other need.
And responsibility for that unnecessary loss will rest with a police department that lacks proper oversight and accountability to the public it serves. When officers face no real discipline for their conduct, there is no incentive to make proper arrests — or to make sure innocent teenagers aren’t thrown in jail.
It isn’t just about the money. Tyree Bell did nothing wrong. He spent three weeks in custody because Kansas City officers ignored his rights. Why are we surprised when citizen after citizen tells us they don’t trust the police?
This case will work its way through the courts. But Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith, the Board of Police Commissioners and the Fraternal Order of Police should not simply dismiss this episode as an isolated error. This case points to deeply ingrained problems within the Kansas City Police Department and should serve as a call to action: Rights must be respected, or community trust will disappear, along with large sums of taxpayer dollars.