Is Johnson County letting misspent police donations slide? I know how justice works here | Opinion

One doesn’t need to look far to see the disparities in our nation’s justice system. Like it or not, the numbers speak for themselves. While Black people make up 12% of the U.S. adult population, they account for 33% of those serving prison time. These figures are drawn from reports by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, not some shadowy media outlet with a liberal slant. While the disparity between white people and minorities is certainly present in Johnson County, District Attorney Steve Howe seems to have created a new protected class: police officers.

I’ll admit I view this issue through a jaded lens. My son, John, was shot by an Overland Park police officer in January 2018 while backing our van out of our garage. Howe, along with the police’s Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Team, was able to very quickly determine that the officer had done nothing wrong. They came to this conclusion in six days — before the coroner’s report, before ballistics reports and before completing a required scene reconstruction.

Interestingly, for a guy who did nothing wrong, the city of Overland Park eagerly paid out a $70,000 severance to make him go away. It should also be noted that a federal judge, Travelers Insurance Company and the Justice Department didn’t agree with Howe’s false narrative, either. Of course, what can you really expect in six days’ time?

Fast forward to May 2022: Four Overland Park police officers were put on paid administrative leave pending the investigation of potential misappropriation of funds from the Overland Park Police Officers Foundation, a nonprofit affiliated with the Fraternal Order of Police. The money was supposed to go to families of fallen officers, education and outreach. The accusation is that funds were spent outside these boundaries, which seems pretty cut and dry. However, the wheels of justice under Howe’s supervision seem to move very slowly if you are a police officer.

I find it interesting that in almost a full year’s time, with a report from an outside auditor and statements from the new directors of the foundation, Howe can’t decide whether to charge these officers who may have misused the money. I know of no other industry where you can be accused of misappropriation of funds and get a year’s paid leave, much less keep your job. I suspect if it was you or me — white, Black or brown — we would have been charged by now.

In February 2018, one month to the day after my son was gunned down in my front yard, Steve Howe sat across from me in his office and boldly told me that “the people of Johnson County elected him to make tough decisions.” While his decision in my son’s case was blatantly wrong, at least it was a decision.

In the case of the potentially misused police association money, it’s time for Steve Howe to stand up and do his job, even if it means upsetting the Fraternal Order of Police, the police chiefs throughout Johnson County and the individual officers he relies on the to win his cases in court.