More transparency sought in fatal police shootings

It has been more than two years since Troy Lanning Jr. and Timothy Collins were shot to death by Wichita police officers.

Relatives and friends are still waiting for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office to rule on whether the use of lethal force was justified in the shootings, which occurred less than two weeks apart in April 2012. Determinations on the use of force in other recent police shootings have routinely taken several months.

The delays in the Lanning and Collins cases, along with the number of recent shootings involving officers – more than a half-dozen in the last four years – are proving to be painful for relatives and frustrating for community activists who question the actions of the officers in the shootings.

Djuan Wash, communications director for Sunflower Community Action, said relatives of the shooting victims “are upset at the lack of transparency.”

“I think the police department can do a better job of being transparent when these types of shootings occurred,” Wash said. “Families need to be better informed.”

Lanning, 24, was shot April 1, 2012, following a lengthy car chase from an area where a drive-by shooting had been reported. Lanning ran from the stolen vehicle.

Police officials have said the officer running after him in south Wichita said Lanning put his hand in a bag of belongings and appeared to aim it toward the officer in a threatening manner.

Less than two weeks later, Collins, 17, was shot to death on April 13 as he ran from a house where a robbery was occurring. Sedgwick County prosecutors have said Collins was with a group of four men who forced their way into a home at 1201 W. Crawford and held seven people at gunpoint during the robbery.

Three of the intruders fled the house when police – alerted by a 911 call from one of the victims – converged on the house.

Georgia Cole, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said in an e-mail response to questions that District Attorney Marc Bennett “is waiting for finalization of an item of information before issuing a ruling regarding the results of the investigation” into Lanning’s death.

No ruling will be announced in the Collins case, Bennett said in e-mail responses to questions, because criminal cases were filed against three people who went to the house on West Crawford with Collins.

“The rules don’t let me say a lot when there are cases filed arising from the same acts,” Bennett said.

Any comment would violate the rules of professional conduct prohibiting any public commentary that has “a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing a pending matter,” he said.

In such circumstances, Bennett said, the public dissemination of information about the incident takes place in the courtrooms during trials and hearings.

Frustrated with what he saw as the Wichita Police Department’s lack of transparency in relation to the recent police shootings, local activist Mike Shatz recently posted photographs on his “Kansas Exposed” blog of the officers he claims are linked to the fatal shootings of Lanning and Collins as well as of Marquez Smart, 23, on March 10, 2012; Karen Jackson, 44, on July 10, 2012, and Icarus Randolph, 26, last July 4.

Police officials have not confirmed the accuracy of the blog post’s claims. Within hours of the officers’ photographs being posted, however, pictures of all officers below the rank of captain – including beat officers – were removed from the department’s website.

Deputy Chief John Speer said the removal of the photographs was part of the departmental review ordered by City Manager Robert Layton in the wake of Chief Norman Williams’ retirement and is not related to the blog post.

Shatz said he noticed law enforcement officials in Omaha quickly released the names of officers involved in the shooting of a robbery suspect and the accidental shooting of a “Cops” television show crew member late last month. Authorities in Kentucky also released the name of the deputy involved in a shooting last weekend.

Randolph was killed by police on July 4. Police said he was shot when he ran with a knife at an officer after officers responded to a call about a “suicidal individual.”

His sister, Ida Allen, said she’s not concerned about the length of time that passes before a ruling is made on whether the use of lethal force was justified.

“My frustration is with the process,” said Allen, who called it nothing more than “rubber-stamping.”

The fact that every police shooting has been deemed justified by the district attorney’s office over the years is “corruption in itself,” she said.

Bonita Gooch, editor-in-chief of the Community Voice newspaper, said members of the minority community are increasingly asking why police can’t shoot to harm rather than shoot to kill.

“That’s not what they do,” Gooch said of aiming for a suspect’s arm or leg when deciding to shoot.

Officers are taught to neutralize a threat if they are convinced they or others are in serious danger, said Capt. Brent Allred, who heads the department’s training section. That means aiming for “center mass,” which would be the upper torso, he said.

Officers are not taught to shoot at a person’s arms or legs.

“We know through training, individuals who have been shot in the arm or leg can still harm or kill a citizen or law enforcement officer,” Allred said. “Shooting them in an arm or leg does not stop a threat.

“Our job is to immediately stop the threat if we can.”

This story was originally published September 5, 2014 at 7:56 PM with the headline "More transparency sought in fatal police shootings."