KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City-area law enforcement agencies were involved in four separate investigations within 24 hours.
The Kansas City Law Enforcement Accountability Project (KC LEAP), a community-based investigating and victim advocacy agency focused on local police violence, questioned police tactics involved in vehicle pursuits over the weekend. KC LEAP is in touch with the use-of-force unit in the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.
Right now, details of each investigation are limited.
KSHB 41 in-depth reporter Alyssa Jackson explained the circumstances of the incidents based on available information and policies that correspond with each department.
Independence Police Department
Around 1 a.m. Sunday, the Independence Police Department was called to 11600 E. Truman Road on a disturbance involving armed individuals.
Police said officers found a man in the backseat of a vehicle outside an apartment building. Officers tried questioning him until he "produced a firearm."
After the man refused commands to drop the weapon, he was shot by police and died on the scene.
The Police Involved Incident Team (PIIT) is investigating the incident. The task force is comprised of detectives from Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, Grandview and Independence.
"The idea is an agency involved in the shooting ... they sit out and allow the other agencies to provide independent review and independent fact gathering to provide an unbiased investigation," said Sgt. Chris Depue, PITT spokesperson.
IPD's use-of-force policy states an officer can use lethal force if it's in defense of human life, or if a person is in imminent danger or risk of serious injury.
Just hours before, around 8:20 p.m. Saturday, Independence police tried to conduct a traffic stop on a suspected hit-and-run driver.
According to police, the driver did not comply. Thus, a chase was initiated.
The driver tried to get away and stopped near eastbound Interstate 70 and Phelps Road.
The suspect got out of the vehicle, jumped over a median and tried running across westbound I-70. The man was hit and killed by a driver.
IPD's pursuit policy allows an officer to chase if a suspect is trying to avoid arrest or flee from police, only after the officer considers safety, the seriousness of the offense and consequences.
Independence police will investigate the vehicle-pedestrian accident.
Clay County Sheriff's Office
Saturday afternoon, around 2:20 p.m., the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department received a call about a disturbance involving a man armed with a large knife in the shopping center at NE Englewood Road and North Oak Trafficway.
The man left the scene prior to officers arriving, police said.
A description of the suspect was provided to dispatch and broadcast to other patrol officers, including the Clay County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office located the man based on the description.
The man removed a large knife from his waistband, began running and did not comply with verbal commands, according to police. Officers ran after the suspect and called in additional resources, including a K-9, to help de-escalate the situation.
Deputies continued to verbally command the suspect to drop the knife and peacefully surrender. But after the suspect charged at deputies twice with the weapon, they shot him.
The man was treated and released from the hospital Saturday. He remained in police custody Sunday.
According to Clay County's non-deadly force guidelines, deputies may use "office-approved or objectively reasonable non-deadly force techniques and issued equipment" to:
- Effect the arrest, restrain, or subdue an actively resistant individual.
- Protect themselves and others from physical injury.
- Bring an unlawful situation safely and effectively under control.
Guidelines for deadly force state such force may only be used when "a member reasonably believes the action is in defense of any human life in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury."
The policy allows:
- Members who encounter a potential of violence or resistance to a lawful arrest should, if possible, attempt to verbally de-escalate the situation. (4.1.1)
- Members will use only the amount of force that is objectively reasonable to overcome the resistance or threat being encountered. (4.1.1)
- If resistance escalates, members are authorized to respond in accordance with their training with those techniques and devices at their disposal. (4.1.4)
The sheriff's office said two deputies are on paid leave per the department's officer-involved shooting policy.
KCPD is the investigating agency.
Missouri State Highway Patrol
Another law enforcement investigation from Saturday involves the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The patrol reported a suspected drunk driver died after a chase with a state trooper on northbound Interstate 35 south of Brighton Avenue.
Around 1:20 a.m., MSHP said the trooper noticed a male driving a silver Chevrolet Tahoe wasn't staying in one lane.
The driver nearly struck a guardrail several times before the trooper tried to get the driver to pull over, according to a news release.
A chase between the state trooper and driver lasted one minute before the trooper used a Tactical Vehicle Intervention (TVI) technique to end the chase. The Tahoe went off the right side of the interstate, crashed into a ditch and overturned. The driver was ejected from the Tahoe and died at the scene.
MSHP's website states it conducted 652 vehicle pursuits in 2024. Most pursuits involved a person attempting to avoid a traffic stop or arrest.
The agency's full pursuit policy is not available to the public. However, its website provides a definition for ending a chase, stating, "If the risk associated with continuing a pursuit outweighs the need to immediately apprehend a suspect, the pursuit should be terminated."
MSHP's Division of Drug and Crime Control will investigate the use of force.
Additionally, MSHP's Major Crash Investigation Unit is reconstructing the crash that occurred as a result of the TVI maneuver.
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KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including Overland Park, Prairie Village and Leawood. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
