KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal grand jury was convened in November to review all records connected to the deadly 2018 shooting of a teenager by an Overland Park police officer.
The city of Overland Park was subpoenaed on Oct. 14, 2020, and “commanded to appear” in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, on Nov. 18, 2020.
The grand jury requested a lengthy list of documents be turned over to the FBI related to the Jan. 20, 2018, shooting of 17-year-old John Albers as he backed a vehicle out of the driveway at his parents’ Overland Park home by police officer Clayton Jenison.
The grand jury requested “all records within the possession or control of the City of Overland Park, including the Overland Park Police Department” in connection with the Albers incident.
That was to include all incident reports, any audio or visual recordings, internal affairs files, autopsy and ballistics reports, internal memos or draft memos, and “any and all other investigative material.”
The grand jury subpoena also requested:
- A list of all officers and “other personnel” who responded to the incident;
- A list of personal and department-issued cell phones for Officer Jenison, two other officers and a police sergeant;
- A listing of all officers and “other personnel” working on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, 2018;
- All records of any complaint, investigation or other proceeding related to the shooting;
- Jenison’s personnel records, including any reports regarding the previous conduct;
- A copy of all Overland Park Police policies in effect at the time;
- A copy of Overland Park Police training materials regarding use of force, defensive tactics, report writing, officer involved shootings, and use of in-car and body-worn cameras used between Jan. 1, 2017, to Jan. 20, 2018;
- All of Jenison’s training records.
"My jaw dropped, because they thought to ask for things that I would not have even known to ask for," Sheila Albers, John's mother, said upon learning about the subpoena.
She said the subpoena also highlights the fact that Jenison's audio was never released to the public. It's a record the family has never obtained or been allowed to hear.
"I'm grateful to the Department of Justice and the FBI that they're moving forward with the investigation and, in my opinion, they're taking this very seriously," Sheila Albers said. "The negative is that Overland Park continues to withhold information that is really public information."
The FBI confirmed in September that it had launched an investigation into the Albers shooting.
Overland Park paid Jenison more than $70,000 as part of a separation agreement after he shot and killed Albers.
The teen’s family has already settled a multi-million-dollar civil lawsuit regarding Albers’ death, but remains unhappy with perceived stonewalling by the Overland Park Police Department.
The Johnson County District Attorney opted not to file charges against Jenison, but information that contradicts those initial findings announced in February 2019 continue to trickle out in court proceedings against the city.
