Kansas Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
December 14, 1999, 1:00 p.m.
Location: Kansas Highway Patrol, Topeka, Kansas
Present at the December 14, 1999 meeting
were committee members: Colonel Don Brownlee, KHP; Chuck Sexson, KBI; Director
Ed Pavey, KLETC; Steve Starr, Attorney General’s Office; Sheriff Janet Harrington,
Kansas Sheriffs’ Association; Bill Miskell, Department of Corrections; Ken
Gorman, Fraternal Order of Police; Kenneth Roy, Kansas Association of Chiefs
of Police; and Matt Veatch, Kansas Historical Society. Also present
was Darin Beck, KLETC legal counsel. Not present was committee member Mark
Deterding, Kansas Troopers’ Association.
Introduction
Col. Don Brownlee, committee chairman, opened the meeting by introducing
Matt Veatch, the Kansas Historical Society’s new representative
to the committee. Other committee members introduced themselves to
Mr. Veatch.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Col. Brownlee passed out the minutes of the October 15, 1999, meeting
for the committee’s final review. Director Ed Pavey moved approval
of the minutes, Sheriff Janet Harrington seconded. The minutes were
approved as written.
Financial Report
Mr. Veatch distributed a brief financial report summarizing Law Enforcement
Memorial Fund activity during October and November 1999. The fund
had a September 30, 1999 beginning balance of $6,048.37. Interest
income for October and November totaled $53.17 while the only expense
during the period was a $150 payment to Lardner Monuments for engraving
Shawnee County Deputy Sheriff Greg Stubbs’ name on the memorial.
The fund had a November 30, 1999, ending balance of $5,951.54. Ken
Gorman moved acceptance of the financial report, Kenneth Roy seconded
the motion, and the financial report was unanimously accepted.
Memorial Repairs
Col. Brownlee reported to the committee on the status of arranging
for repairs to the memorial. He indicated that he had discussed possible
repairs to several weathered stones with Rick Kern, Dept. of Administration,
Division of Facilities Management. Mr. Kern, as soon as he located
the previously prepared survey of the stones, planned to get cost
estimates on repairs to the weathered blocks as well as on the cost
of sealing the stones to deter future deterioration.
Standards/Guidelines Subcommittee Report
Vice Chairman Chuck Sexson, reporting on the work of the standards/guidelines
subcommittee, distributed copies of proposed “Criteria for Inclusion
on the Kansas Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.” He stated
that he had based the draft document on the guidelines for the national
memorial, and had incorporated the suggestions made by committee members
at the October 15, 1999, meeting. He specifically noted that he had
included language excluding training deaths from eligibility and had
inserted a statement in the last paragraph of the document requiring
the committee to opt for including an officer on the memorial if his/her
department “states that the officer died in the line of duty
and there is no information to believe otherwise.”
Director Pavey had questions about language
in the criteria stating that the committee would consider “less than full-time
law enforcement officers” on a case-by-case basis. He believed it would be
more appropriate to redefine “law enforcement officer” to include part-time
and reserve officers. After some discussion of the issue, the committee agreed
to strike paragraph 3 of the document that discussed “less than full-time
law enforcement officers” and to revise the first sentence of paragraph two
to read: “For the purpose of this Memorial, “law enforcement officer” means
an individual involved in crime control or reduction and who is directly employed
on a full-time, part-time, or volunteer basis by a local, county,
state or federal law enforcement agency, with or without compensation, who
is duly sworn and has full arrest powers.”
Capt. Gorman questioned the exclusion of
all training deaths, pointing out that some training deaths (e.g., vehicle
or shooting training fatalities) perhaps warranted inclusion on the memorial.
He suggested that the committee might want to consider training deaths on
a case-by-case basis. Vice-Chairman Sexson commented that it might be appropriate
for the criteria to make a distinction between accidental deaths as a result
of training and natural deaths during training. The committee agreed to strike
the word “accidental” from the last sentence of paragraph 7 of the draft criteria.
Bill Miskell suggested adding a sentence to the criteria stating that accidental
deaths resulting from training will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Committee members agreed and Vice-Chairman Sexson said he would draft the
language.
Mr. Miskell was asked about the eligibility
of certain classes of correctional employees. He responded by asserting that
there were some corrections employees who are not considered law enforcement
officers (e.g., food service workers) and thus are not eligible for inclusion
on the memorial.
Mr. Miskell detailed several proposed revisions to the criteria:
Paragraph 7, sentence 3, to be changed to read: “Stressful responses
include, but are not limited to, the following: . . . 4)responding
to a law violation or emergency situation that involves an
imminent risk of serious injury or death to
the officer or to others; . . .” The committee agreed
to the change.
Paragraph 9, sentence 1, to be changed to read: “An officer
will be included if the employing jurisdiction
states that the officer died in the line of duty and there is
insufficient credible information to believe otherwise.”
The committee agreed to the revision.
Paragraph 9, sentence 2, to be changed to read: “When there
is unresolved doubt regarding the
circumstances of the officer’s death or with respect to status
as a law enforcement officer, the matter will be resolved in favor
of inclusion.” The committee agreed to the change.
Paragraph 9, sentence 3, to be changed to read: “The Law Enforcement
Officers Memorial Advisory Committee, the Director of the Kansas Bureau
of Investigation and the Kansas Historical Society will exhaust
all reasonable means available
to verify an officer’s eligibility status, and the correct spelling
of the name.” The committee agreed to the revision.
Darin Beck, KLETC legal counsel, suggested that paragraph 7, sentence
4 be revised to read: “Specifically
excluded under this definition are medical related deaths
resulting from training, . . .” The committee agreed to the
change.
Vice-Chairman Sexson expressed doubts about
the clarity of the words “an area of jurisdiction” with regard to military
police officers in paragraph 2, sentence 3. After discussing the issue the
committee agreed to Director Pavey’s proposal to strike the entire sentence.
Director Pavey suggested that a revised draft
of the criteria be distributed for review and comment to others in the law
enforcement community before the committee agrees on a final version of the
document. There was a general consensus that this action be carried out.
Vice-Chairman Sexson stated that he would make the necessary changes
to the criteria and e-mail a revised draft to committee members as
soon as possible.
Director Pavey offered to bring Mr. Beck to committee meetings to
provide any legal assistance the committee might need. Members thought
this would be an acceptable arrangement.
Memorial Additions for 2000
There was a general discussion of officers to be added to the memorial
in 2000. It appears that there will be at least one officer who died
in the line of duty in 1999 (Deputy James R. Kenney, Clay County)
and perhaps two officers from previous years added to the memorial
next year. KBI director Larry Welch has received information on Deputy
Kenney and will be passing it along to the committee.
Master List of Officers on Memorial
Director Pavey and Col. Brownlee asked if there was a master list
of all the officers currently included on the memorial. Mr. Veatch
indicated that the Historical Society maintained the list. At Sheriff
Harrington’s request, Mr. Veatch agreed to e-mail a copy of
the list to all committee members.
LEM Web Site
Mr. Veatch asked other members whether the committee had a web site.
The answer was negative and there was general agreement that it would
be desirable to create a committee web site that included a description
of the committee’s nature and purpose, a list of the officers
on the memorial, a list of committee members, the criteria for inclusion,
and other appropriate information. Mr. Veatch agreed to investigate
the possibility of the Historical Society hosting the site.
Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony
Capt. Gorman reported that next year’s Law Enforcement Memorial
Ceremony will be held on May 19, 2000. Efforts are already underway
to promote the event. Col. Brownlee agreed to put together an announcement
publicizing the event.
LEM Brochure
Col. Brownlee passed around a mock-up of a Law Enforcement Memorial
brochure. Members reacted favorably to the brochure but most believed
that the list of officers included on the memorial appearing on the
back of the brochure was in too small a font to read comfortably.
It was also pointed out that including the list would quickly outdate
the brochure since new officers are added to the memorial each year.
Replacing the list with additional color photographs was suggested
as an alternative. Members also agreed that it would be best to eliminate
all names of individuals from the brochure, again to prevent it from
become out-of-date. Mr. Miskell suggested that Kansas Correctional
Industries could print the brochure for a reasonable cost. Col. Brownlee
will work on revisions to the brochure.
Line of Duty Death Guidelines/Checklist
Capt. Gorman asked other members whether they were aware of publications
in the state that provided guidance on how to handle a line of duty
death. He suggested that the committee might want to consider preparing
guidelines and/or a checklist to be distributed to law enforcement
entities in Kansas. Col. Brownlee indicated that the Highway Patrol
had policies relating to line of duty deaths and he will bring them
to the next committee meeting.
Old Business
Col. Brownlee reported that he had not yet gathered information from
the Divisions of Architectural Services and Facilities Management
concerning the possibility of expanding the memorial to include an
outer ring. He hoped to accomplish this before the next meeting.
New Business
Mr. Miskell distributed copies of a news clipping regarding the 1904
death of Constable Richard Calhoun of Yale, Kansas, and asked if he
was included on the memorial. Director Pavey checked a copy of the
list of officers on the memorial printed in the Summer 1987 issue
of the Kansas History journal; it included
Constable Calhoun’s name.
Committee members discussed celebrating the
memorial’s 20th anniversary which will occur early in the next
decade, and agreed that the anniversary should be commemorated in an appropriate
manner.
Members talked about procedures for submitting
names for addition to the memorial. Capt. Gorman suggested that all submissions,
for both contemporary and historical officers, be submitted to the director
of the KBI. The KBI director then would refer the names to the committee.
Capt. Gorman contended that all law enforcement entities were quite aware
of the procedures for contacting the KBI and this single point of contact
would simplify matters. The committee agreed to this proposal. Members also
consented to Vice-Chairman Sexson’s suggestion that any notices that are distributed
require that the names be submitted to the KBI director by January 31st
of the year in which the nominating entity wishes the officer to be added
to the memorial.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the committee will be at 8:30 a.m. on February
4, 2000 at KBI Headquarters, 1620 SW Tyler, Topeka, KS.
The meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m. The minutes were taken by Matt
Veatch, KSHS.
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