Kansas Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
September 21, 2001, 10:00 a.m.
Kansas Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas

Present at the September 21, 2001 meeting were committee members: Vice-chairman Bill Miskell, Department of Corrections; Colonel Don Brownlee, KHP; Director Ed Pavey, KLETC; Captain Ken Gorman, Fraternal Order of Police; Kenneth Roy, Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police; Steve Starr, Attorney General’s Office; 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. Committee members introduced themselves for the benefit of Ms. Goodheart.

2. Approval of minutes
2.1. Mr. Veatch distributed copies of the June 22, 2001 meeting minutes.
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 detailing activity during the June-August 2001 period.
3.2. Director Pavey moved approval of the financial report as submitted, Col. Brownlee seconded, and the motion carried.

4. Potential additions to the memorial
4.1. Will C. Reed and Charles F. Artz
4.1.1. Mr. Veatch distributed Wichita Eagle newspaper articles describing the 1920 shooting deaths of Officers Artz and Reed, both of whom were special agents for the Rock Island Railroad in the Wichita area.
4.1.1.1. He reminded the group that Vice-chair Miskell originally had discovered Reed’s death while looking at the inmate file of a man who was an accomplice to Officer Reed’s murder.
4.1.1.2. Mr. Veatch reported that while performing research on Officer Reed’s death he had stumbled across the report of Officer Artz’s death.
4.1.2. Committee members discussed the status of railroad special agents and agreed that they were law enforcement officers who could be eligible for inclusion on the memorial.
4.1.3. Vice-chair Miskell asked the committee whether they believed additional evidence was needed before voting on adding Reed and Artz to the memorial.
4.1.4. Committee members expressed their satisfaction with the evidence at hand, although Mr. Veatch will endeavor to gather additional information to add details to the description of the circumstances of death.
4.1.5. Capt. Gorman moved to add Officers Will C. Reed and Charles F. Artz to the Law Enforcement Memorial at the 2002 ceremony. Director Pavey seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.
4.2. Charles Delbert Meeks
4.2.1. Mr. Starr reported that he had been unable to get in touch with either Mrs. Weeks or the ex-chief of police of Derby to discuss the circumstances of Meeks death.
4.2.2. Starr indicated that the committee had, at its June 22, 2001 meeting, expressed questions about whether Detective Meeks’ death in a traffic accident while traveling in his personal vehicle to a Kansas Police Officers Association meeting on May 9, 1976 made him eligible for inclusion on the memorial.
4.2.3. The group discussed the issue again and agreed that, pending the production of additional evidence, Detective Marks’ nomination for inclusion on the memorial should be tabled.
4.3. Ted Eaton, Bob Hubbard, Roland Wilcox
4.3.1. Capt. Gorman briefly described the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Eaton, Hubbard, and Wilcox in the Oklahoma panhandle in 1888 (Oklahoma was still Indian Territory at the time).
4.3.2. The three apparently were Kansans who had been deputized by Stevens County, KS Sheriff John Cross before going into Indian Territory as part of an effort to arrest City Marshal Robinson of Hugoton, KS.
4.3.3. Cross, Eaton, Hubbard, and Wilcox all were killed by Robinson and his men but only Cross’ name appears on the Kansas memorial.
4.3.4. Mr. Veatch will conduct additional research on the incident and report his findings at the December 2001 meeting.

5. Memorial maintenance and repairs
5.1. Vice-chair Miskell reported that the Division of Facilities Management indicated that the memorial likely will be dismantled by Feb. 2002 and will be reassembled at an undetermined time in the distant future.
5.1.1. He commented that there is no guarantee that the memorial will be reassembled in its existing location.
5.1.2. Capt. Gorman pointed out that the statute for the memorial specifies that the memorial be located in the northeast quadrant of the statehouse grounds.
5.1.2.1. Vice-chair Miskell observed that a statutory change could be necessary.
5.1.3. Vice-chair Miskell also commented that when the memorial is reassembled it possibly would be located near a new firefighters' memorial on the statehouse grounds.
5.1.3.1. Col. Brownlee observed that during the effort to get a firefighters’ memorial there had been opinions expressed arguing for the exclusion of all memorials on statehouse grounds.
5.1.3.2. Vice-chair Miskell suggested that the committee carefully monitor the construction process and related developments.
5.2. Director Pavey inquired about the logistics for next year's ceremony considering the memorial will be in a disassembled state in May 2002.
5.2.1. Capt. Gorman and Vice-chair Miskell suggested that the ceremony could be held on the south side of the capitol with the wreath being laid at the base of the flagpole.
5.2.2. Committee members believed this to be a workable plan.
5.3. Vice-chair Miskell commented that the committee needed to use the next few years as an opportunity to raise funds for repair and expansion of the memorial.
5.3.1. Director Pavey commented that it would be hard to raise funds when the future status of the memorial remains in doubt.
5.3.2. Col. Brownlee distributed a copy of a proposed federal bill that would provide grants of up to $150,000 for the construction of public safety memorials.
5.3.2.1. He suggested that the committee investigate the grants as a potential funding source for repair and expansion of the existing memorial or perhaps even the construction of a new memorial.
5.3.2.2. Col. Brownlee, in response to questions from committee members, said he believed the legislation had passed but he was not sure of this.
5.3.2.2.1. Capt. Gorman used his cell phone to call someone with knowledge of pending federal legislation and discovered that the bill had been reported out of committee and currently was before the full Congress.
5.3.2.3. Director Pavey and Col. Brownlee both suggested that if the legislation passed, it might make sense for the committee to pursue a grant for the construction of a new memorial, especially in light of the impending disassembly during statehouse construction and the need for major repairs and expansion.
5.3.2.4. Vice-chair Miskell suggested that the committee stay in contact with members of the Kansas congressional delegation regarding the legislation.
5.3.2.4.1. Col. Brownlee volunteered to write a letter to the members of the delegation urging their support of the bill.
5.3.2.4.2. Capt. Gorman said he also would make personal contact with delegation members and staffers.

6. Kansas COPS
6.1. Ms. Goodheart reported that Kansas COPS held its first meeting on July 14, 2001.
6.1.1. Chairman Chuck Sexson spoke at the meeting and outlined plans for cooperation between the Law Enforcement Memorial Advisory Committee and Kansas COPS.
6.1.2. Ms. Goodheart indicated that she asked meeting attendees for comments on the 2001 memorial ceremony.
6.1.2.1. Most felt it was a very meaningful service.
6.1.2.2. They liked the choice of music and appreciated the luncheon following the event.
6.1.2.3. Director Pavey (who had missed the June 22, 2001 meeting during which the committee critiqued the memorial ceremony) asked what other committee members thought about the reception in the governor's office prior to the memorial ceremony.
6.1.2.3.1. Vice-chair Miskell commented that the committee had decided at the June meeting that it would make sense to hold the reception in another (larger) room at the statehouse, possibly to include survivors in the reception, and to have the governor stop by shortly before the ceremony.
6.1.2.4. Director Pavey also asked about the timing of the ceremony in 2002.
6.1.2.4.1. Vice-chair Miskell stated that the committee had agreed to move the ceremony back to a date in May.
6.1.2.5. Ms. Goodheart asked if she could bring a COPS flag to the ceremony.
6.1.2.5.1. The committee thought this would be fine.
6.1.2.6. Vice-chair Miskell asked Ms. Goodheart whether Kansas COPS would be willing to develop strategies for recruiting more survivors to attend the ceremony.
6.1.2.6.1. Ms. Goodheart indicated that she would raise the issue with her fellow Kansas COPS members.
6.1.2.6.2. Capt. Gorman suggested a mailing regarding the ceremony to the COPS mailing list.
6.1.2.6.2.1. Ms. Goodheart thought this might be possible.
6.1.3. Director Pavey asked for Marilyn's participation in a conference session he planned to sponsor on handling officers killed in the line of duty. She agreed.
6.2. Ms. Goodheart expressed her appreciation to the committee for inviting her to attend committee meetings.

7. Fund raising
7.1. Capt. Gorman asked whether the committee should consider fund raising strategies.
7.2. Director Pavey again expressed his opinion that it would be difficult to raise funds without a clear plan for the memorial.
7.2.1. He did suggest that committee members could alert law enforcement associations to the fact that the memorial would be disassembled and that efforts would be getting underway to raise funds to repair, expand, and/or reconstruct the memorial.
7.2.2. Director Pavey asked Mr. Veatch to get the meeting minutes out as soon as possible to facilitate this effort.
7.3. Capt. Gorman suggested that the committee devote a considerable portion of the December meeting to a discussion of fund raising strategies.
7.3.1. Vice-chair Miskell agreed to put it on the agenda.

8. New business
8.1. Col. Brownlee reminded committee members of the remembrance ceremony for World Trade Center and Pentagon victims to be held at the statehouse today at noon.
8.2. Col. Brownlee also reported that Sedgwick County fire fighters did not receive notice of the 2001 LEM ceremony and they asked him if the committee could send them a notice next year.
8.2.1. Committee members readily agreed to the request.
8.3. Date of 2002 ceremony
8.3.1. The committee discussed May 3rd and May 24th as possible dates.
8.3.2. A final decision will be made at the December 2001 meeting.

9. Next meeting: December 7, 2001, Attorney General’s Office, Memorial Hall, 2nd Floor, 10th and Jackson, Topeka, Kansas.

10. The meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m. Matt Veatch recorded the minutes.