Kansas Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
June 22, 2001, 10:00 a.m.
Kansas Highway Patrol Headquarters, Topeka, Kansas

Present at the June 22, 2001 meeting were committee members: Chairman Chuck Sexson, KBI; Vice-chairman Bill Miskell, Department of Corrections; Colonel Don Brownlee, KHP; Captain Ken Gorman, Fraternal Order of Police; Kenneth Roy, Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police; Steve Starr, Attorney General’s Office; Gary Hibbs, Department of Administration, Division of Facilities Management; Trooper J. L. Riedel, Kansas Troopers’ Association, and Matt Veatch, Kansas Historical Society. Marilyn Goodheart, President, Kansas COPS also attended the meeting.

1. Introductions
1.1. Chairman Sexson introduced to the committee Marilyn Goodheart, President, Kansas COPS. Ms. Goodheart is the widow of Dean Goodheart, a law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty in 1995.

2. Approval of minutes
2.1. Mr. Veatch distributed copies of the minutes of the April 6, 2001 meeting.
2.2. Capt. Gorman moved approval of the minutes as submitted, Mr. Starr seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

3. Financial report
3.1. Mr. Veatch distributed the financial report and described activity related to memorial ceremony expenditures during April and May 2001.
3.2. Vice-chair Miskell moved approval of the financial report as submitted. Mr. Roy seconded and the motion was approved.

4. Potential additions to the memorial
4.1. Will C. Reed
4.1.1. Vice-chair Miskell reported on information he discovered in an inmate file regarding the death of Officer Will C. Reed on July 4, 1920 in Sedgwick County, Kansas.
4.1.2. Mr. Veatch will conduct additional research regarding Officer Reed’s circumstances of death.
4.2. Charles Delbert Meeks
4.2.1. Mr. Starr reported that he had received a letter from Sgt. Kyle Condon of the Derby Police Department requesting that Charles Delbert Meeks be added to the memorial.
4.2.1.1. Detective Meeks was a City of Derby investigator who died on May 9, 1976 from injuries suffered in a traffic accident while enroute to a Kansas Police Officers Association meeting.
4.2.1.2. Mr. Starr indicated that the Derby Police Department believes Det. Meeks was on duty at the time of his death.
4.2.1.3. Det. Meeks’ name appears on the National Law Enforcement Memorial.
4.2.2. The committee discussed Det. Meeks' eligibility for the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial.
4.2.2.1. Trooper Riedel expressed his opinion that he did not feel that Meeks suffered a line of duty death and should not be added to the memorial.
4.2.2.1.1. Mr. Hibbs agreed with Trooper Riedel’s assessment.
4.2.2.2. Mr. Starr pointed out that the committee, by adopting criteria for inclusion that includes accidental training deaths, opened the door for the possible reevaluation of many law enforcement officer deaths.
4.2.2.3. Capt. Gorman, in looking at the criteria for inclusion, expressed doubt about Meeks' eligibility but commented that additional research needed to be performed before a final decision could be made.
4.2.2.4. Chairman Sexson suggested that the committee contact both the Derby chief of police and Mrs. Meeks to get their views on the situation.
4.2.2.5. Chairman Sexson proposed that Detective Meeks’ nomination be tabled until the September 2001 meeting pending further investigation.
4.2.2.5.1. The committee agreed to this proposal.
4.3. Deputy Sheriff Ronald Palmer
4.3.1. Mr. Starr reported that he had contacted Deputy Wanamaker, the deputy who conducted the investigation into Deputy Palmer’s death, but did not gather much additional information on Palmer's death.
4.3.1.1. Wanamaker did indicate that Palmer was in apparently good health at the time of his death.
4.3.1.2. Mr. Starr stated that the autopsy reported that Palmer died of congenital heart failure.
4.3.2. Chairman Sexson asked about the difference between Deputy Palmer’s death and that of Deputy Stubbs, who also died of a heart attack while on duty and whose name appears on the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial.
4.3.2.1. Capt. Gorman and Mr. Starr responded that Deputy Stubbs had conducted a stressful act (delivering a search warrant) prior to his heart attack and thus his death could be considered to be in the line of duty.
4.3.2.2. Mr. Starr observed that there was no evidence to indicate that Mr. Palmer had been engaged in a stressful law enforcement act prior to his death.
4.3.3. Capt. Gorman moved to deny the request to add Palmer to the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial unless additional information becomes available. Trooper Riedel seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
4.3.4. Chairman Sexson will draft a letter to Deputy Palmer's son explaining the committee's action.

5. Memorial maintenance and repairs
5.1. Parking garage project
5.1.1. Mr. Hibbs reported that the statehouse renovation project now includes an underground parking garage north of the capitol building.
5.1.1.1. The parking garage concept developed out of the plan to create a basement level entrance to the statehouse on the north side of the building.
5.1.1.2. The parking lot will take a large piece of property (360 ft. wide - about 1 city block - and all the way to 8th St.).
5.1.2. Mr. Hibbs indicated that the parking garage construction process would impact the memorial.
5.1.2.1. The plan is to dismantle the memorial during the construction process and then rebuild it.
5.1.2.2. Mr. Hibbs suggested that the committee could consider replacing the stone before the memorial is rebuilt.
5.1.2.3. Chairman Sexson asked whether there had been any discussion about moving the memorial to a different location on the statehouse grounds.
5.1.2.3.1. Mr. Hibbs stated that there had been no discussion as yet, but he anticipated that such questions probably would be raised at some point in the future.
5.1.2.3.2. Chairman Sexson suggested that the current memorial location might not be appropriate after the garage construction is completed.
5.1.2.3.3. Gorman commented that relocating the memorial could require a statutory change since the current statute specifies that the memorial be located on the northeast quadrant of the statehouse grounds.
5.2. Expansion and repair of the memorial
5.2.1. Mr. Hibbs distributed and described drawings showing a possible addition of a second ring of stones to the memorial slightly below the existing ring.
5.2.2. He then discussed a cost estimate of $120,000 for expanding and repairing the memorial in conjunction with re-assembly of the memorial following the statehouse parking garage construction.
5.2.2.1. This plan would include 40 new (engraved) granite caps to replace the existing limestone caps and 40 new (unengraved) granite caps at a new lower level to provide additional capacity (240 names).
5.2.2.2. The plan also would include an expansion of the concrete base to accommodate the new caps.
5.2.3. Capt. Gorman pointed out that the original plan for the memorial had included some kind of statue in the center.
5.2.3.1. Ms. Goodheart expressed support for a statue in the vicinity of the memorial.
5.2.4. Chairman Sexson reported that he had drafted a letter on behalf of the committee to the Division of Facilities Management expressing the committee's interest in the statehouse construction project and requesting information about the impact of the construction on the memorial.
5.2.4.1. Chairman Sexson distributed a copy of the letter and asked for feedback from the committee.
5.2.4.2. Vice-chair Miskell suggested one minor grammatical revision and also suggested copying the Joint Committee on Building Construction on the letter.
5.2.4.3. Capt. Gorman moved approval of the letter, Miskell seconded, and the motion was approved.
5.2.5. Construction schedule and capital campaign
5.2.5.1. Mr. Hibbs indicated that the statehouse construction project was scheduled to start in the fall of 2001.
5.2.5.2. He estimated that the construction would require disassembling the memorial for approximately two years, thus giving the committee at least that long to raise the money for repair and expansion.
5.2.5.3. Chairman Sexson commented that a capital campaign probably would be most effective if executed over a short period of time.

6. Kansas Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS)
6.1. Overview
6.1.1. Ms. Goodheart described Kansas COPS as a group that exists to provide a range of support to survivors of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.
6.2. Services and resources available to the committee
6.2.1. Chairman Sexson suggested the possibility of working with Kansas COPS to set up a reception for all survivors on the day of the memorial service.
6.2.1.1. Ms. Goodheart expressed her support for the idea and indicated that Kansas COPS would be willing to assist with the reception.
6.2.1.2. Kansas COPS, in particular, could assist by contacting survivors to inform them of the reception.

7. Critique of 2001 ceremony
7.1. Reception
7.1.1. Chairman Sexson felt that it would have helped to introduce the committee members to the families while everyone waited in the Governor’s anteroom but he believed the event went well in the governor's office.
7.1.2. Vice-chair Miskell suggested using the old secretary of state's office as the site of the reception and have the governor stop by on his way to the ceremony.
7.1.3. Chairman Sexson asked whether all survivors should attend this reception or whether it would be more appropriate to include only the family members of the officers being added to the memorial that year.
7.1.4. Vice-chair Miskell suggested that Kansas COPS could help contact the law enforcement agencies and ask the agencies to contact survivors and offer to accompany them to the memorial service.
7.2. General comments
7.2.1. Ms. Goodheart suggested consolidating the audience attending the ceremony – people were fairly scattered.
7.2.2. She also observed that she had trouble finding a program and suggested that COPS could help distribute them.
7.3. Timing
7.3.1. Chairman Sexson commented that he felt that holding the ceremony during the legislative session worked fairly well.
7.3.2. Vice-chair Miskell didn't necessarily agree, citing the lack of legislators in attendance.
7.3.3. Chairman Sexson also observed that there other memorial ceremonies were held in May and wondered whether it would be better to have the ceremonies grouped together.
7.3.4. The committee agreed that it would be best to hold the ceremony in May.

8. Old business – None

9. New business
9.1. Vice-chair Miskell suggested that Ms. Goodheart be invited to future committee meetings.
9.1.1. Committee members agreed to the suggestion.

10. The meeting adjourned at 12:05 p.m. Matt Veatch recorded the minutes.

11. Next meeting: September 21, 2001, 10:00 a.m., Kansas Historical Society, 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka, KS