Kansas Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
February 4, 2000, 8:30 a.m.
Kansas Bureau of Investigation Headquarters, Topeka, Kansas

Present at the February 4, 2000 meeting were committee members: Colonel Don Brownlee, KHP; Chuck Sexson, KBI; Director Ed Pavey, KLETC; 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. Not present were committee members Mark Deterding, Kansas Troopers’ Association and Steve Starr, Attorney General’s Office.

Introduction
Col. Don Brownlee, committee chairman, called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m.

Membership Roster
Vice-Chairman Chuck Sexson distributed a committee membership roster and asked members to review the information. Several members discovered errors. Mr. Sexson arranged for the corrections to be made and distributed a revised roster later in the meeting.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Matt Veatch passed out the minutes of the December 14, 1999, meeting for the committee’s final review. Mr. Veatch reported on two minor copy editing corrections that he had made following the committee’s initial review of the document. Director Ed Pavey moved approval of the minutes, Sheriff Janet Harrington seconded. The minutes were approved as written.

Financial Report
Mr. Veatch had not prepared a formal treasurer’s report for the committee’s consideration. Col. Brownlee reported that Mr. Veatch had indicated that the only significant change to the Law Enforcement Memorial Fund since the December 1999 meeting had been the deposit of a $2,000 contribution for the Kansas Troopers’ Association. Mr. Veatch stated that he would prepare a formal treasurer’s report as soon as possible and distribute to committee members. Director Pavey and Sheriff Harrington discussed whether donations from other law enforcement organizations intended for the memorial should be deposited in the Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. They agreed that such action should be encouraged and that they would contact the appropriate parties. Mr. Gorman asked Mr. Veatch to whom checks for the memorial fund should be made out. Mr. Veatch suggested that they should be made out to the Kansas Historical Society. Other committee members confirmed this suggestion.

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” that incorporated the revisions agreed upon at the December 14, 1999 meeting. He stated that he had submitted the draft document to six law enforcement officers around the state for review and comment. He received positive feedback from one officer and did not hear back from the other five; the group agreed that the lack of response likely indicated that the officers had no objections to the proposed criteria. Kenneth Roy moved approval of the “Criteria for Inclusion on the Kansas Law Enforcement Officers Memorial” as submitted by Vice Chairman Sexson. Capt. Gorman seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony
Capt. Gorman reported that the ceremony is scheduled for May 19, 2000 at noon. Mr. Miskell stated that he had been in contact with Department of Administration officials regarding ceremony arrangements. He also indicated that he will contact the governor’s office approximately four weeks prior to the ceremony and attempt to schedule the governor’s appearance.

Review of Sample Brochure
Col. Brownlee passed around a revised mock-up of a Law Enforcement Memorial brochure. The sample included the text of the “Criteria for Inclusion on the Kansas Law Enforcement Officers Memorial” and a number of color photographs. Col. Brownlee indicated that he would edit the criteria for inclusion to reflect the most recent version of that document. There was consensus among committee members that the brochure design looked very good and that steps to print and distribute the brochure should commence. Col. Brownlee asked Mr. Veatch if the Kansas Historical Society would coordinate the printing. Mr. Veatch recalled that Mr. Miskell, at the December 14, 1999, meeting, had offered to investigate the possibility of Kansas Correctional Industries performing the printing. Mr. Miskell agreed to explore this possibility.

Review of Sample Announcement 2000 Memorial Ceremony
Col. Brownlee distributed a sample announcement for the 2000 Law Enforcement Memorial ceremony. The committee approved of the announcement design and briefly discussed possible distribution channels. Capt. Gorman suggested distribution to school districts in an effort to attract a good contingent of school children to the ceremony. Director Pavey suggested including the announcement in a mailing to all state agencies.

Report on Repairs to the Memorial
Col. Brownlee reported that in spite of three phone calls he had not received much solid information from Rick Kern, the committee’s contact with the Department of Administration’s Division of Facilities Management, regarding the status of getting repairs performed on the memorial. Mr. Kern continues to state that he believes a bid for the repairs is around somewhere but he has not found it yet. Col. Brownlee also indicated that Mr. Kern wanted to wait until the completion of repairs to the memorial before taking any action on possible enhancements to the memorial. Col. Brownlee asked for the committee’s advice on whether he should attempt to put more pressure on Mr. Kern on the repair issue by contacting Mr. Kern’s supervisor. Vice-Chairman Sexson suggested putting Mr. Kern on the agenda for the next meeting as a way to stimulate action but the Salina location of the next meeting could make that approach infeasible. Mr. Miskell suggested writing a letter to Mr. Kern reiterating the committee’s desire to see the repairs effected and copying the Secretary of Administration on the letter. The committee agreed that this was a reasonable approach but consented to Col. Brownlee’s suggestion that he copy the director of the Division of Facilities Management on the letter rather than the Secretary of Administration. Thus, Col. Brownlee will draft a letter to Mr. Kern once again requesting that the memorial get repaired and he will copy the director of the Division of Facilities Management on the letter.

“What to do in case of a law enforcement death” discussion
Col. Brownlee passed around a copy of the Kansas Highway Patrol’s Employee Critical Information Handbook that includes guidance on steps to take in the event of a law enforcement officer’s death. He suggested that the committee might consider creating something similar to the handbook for distribution around the state. Col. Brownlee also distributed a booklet prepared by COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors) that describes benefits that may be available to survivors of officers killed in the line of duty. This type of information too, he suggested, might be appropriate for distribution. Col. Brownlee asked for the committee’s thoughts on whether a sub-committee should be formed to explore the possibility of putting together a publication on this topic. Vice-Chairman Sexson affirmed his agreement with the essence of the initiative but commented that, given the differences between jurisdictions, the guidelines would need the be fairly generic in content. Other committee members agreed that the guidelines would need to provide fairly general advice on what to do in the event of a death and the benefits available to survivors. Sheriff Harrington commented that she believed such a publication would be particularly helpful to smaller departments. Director Pavey suggested that the committee look at what is already available from COPS before creating its own publication. Director Pavey agreed to gather this information and report at the next meeting.

20th Anniversary Ceremony
Col. Brownlee moved on to the issue of whether the committee should establish a sub-committee to prepare for the memorial’s 20th anniversary ceremony. Capt. Gorman expressed interest in serving on the committee although, given his lack of institutional resources, he declined to chair the sub-committee. Vice-Chairman Sexson suggested coordinating the ceremony in conjunction with the joint conference of law enforcement organizations. There was some discussion of when the first ceremony took place and committee members seemed to agree on the following chronology:
First ceremony: 1982
Law Enforcement Memorial statute passed: 1984
Memorial unveiled: 1986
Memorial dedicated: 1987

Thus, 2002 will be the 20th anniversary of the first ceremony and the 15th anniversary of the dedication of the memorial. Capt. Gorman suggested that the committee might find it educational to have Dan Holt, current director of the Eisenhower Library and the historian who did much of the original research on the officers added to the memorial in 1987, speak to the group on the history of the memorial. Sheriff Harrington asserted her support for the proposal and other members agreed. Capt. Gorman will contact Mr. Holt and attempt to make the arrangements. The committee will revisit the 20th anniversary ceremony sub-committee concept at a future meeting.

Old Business
None

New Business

Officers to be added to the memorial
Mr. Veatch presented information on three possible additions to the memorial in 2000:

Deputy Ray Kumpf of Hamilton County who died on July 3, 1939
Officer Martin Grant of McPherson who died on Feb. 12, 1937
Deputy James R. Kenney of Clay County who died on Nov. 17, 1999

Mr. Veatch distributed newspaper articles from the Syracuse Journal detailing the circumstances of Deputy Kumpf’s death and he summarized and read from documents that described Officer Grant’s death. The committee discussed the strength of the case for Officer Grant’s inclusion (he died of a heart attack shortly after making an arrest) but deferred all final decisions until the next meeting. At the March meeting Mr. Veatch will present for the committee’s formal consideration a summary paragraph about each officer being proposed for inclusion on the memorial along with appropriate research materials. The committee will vote on inclusion at that time.

There was discussion of whether a formal request for Deputy Kenney’s inclusion on the memorial had been submitted. The committee agreed that there had been no formal request. Sheriff Harrington agreed to contact Sheriff Gary Caldwell to request an official submission of Deputy Kenney’s name for inclusion on the memorial.

The committee also discussed the possibility of including Jim Nelson, an officer from Goddard who died in the line of duty, on the memorial. Director Pavey agreed to contact Officer Nelson’s son to see if he will write a letter requesting his father’s inclusion on the memorial.

Next Meeting
The next meeting of the committee will be at 10:30 a.m. on March 21, 2000 at the Kansas Highway Patrol Training Academy, 2025 E. Iron Ave., Salina, KS.

The meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m. The minutes were taken by Matt Veatch, KSHS.