Chamber sends Senate a bill allowing 20-year-olds to enter police academy
BY: TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Rep. Brad Barrett’s sense of potential lethal ramifications of high-speed pursuits by law enforcement officers was drawn from service as a Shawnee County district attorney investigator and a Coffey County sheriff’s deputy.
Barrett, an Osage City Republican, brought that experience to the Kansas House where he urged peers to support House Bill 2177. It would stiffen criminal penalties for motorists repeatedly convicted of fleeing or attempting to elude authorities.
“This is dangerous,” he said. “When people are fleeing law enforcement, they’re driving a couple thousand pound missile full of fuel. We need to hold them accountable for their actions.”
Kansas Highway Patrol Col. Eric Smith and Coffey County Undersheriff Eric Smith — no relation — had testified to a House committee in support of the bill. Both said the state would be justified to enact progressively severe punitive measures for those who continued to attempt or commit an aggravated form of fleeing and eluding.
“Increased penalties for prior convictions discourage violators from committing the same offense,” the KHP colonel said.
He said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documented 525 fatalities in 2021 that occurred during police pursuits in the United States.
On Thursday, the House responded by voting 94-28 to send the bill to the Kansas Senate.
The legislation would raise a third or subsequent conviction for skirting a road block, avoiding tire deflation devices or intentionally causing property damage during a law enforcement chase from a level 9 felony to a level 5 felony. The bill also would dictate that a person convicted a third or subsequent time of driving the wrong way into an opposing lane of traffic and forcing a motorist to take evasive action or colliding with a vehicle, would face a level 4 felony rather than a level 9 felony.
Not so fast
Rep. Tobias Schlingensiepen, D-Topeka, asked during floor debate on the bill Wednesday for evidence demonstrating that modifying the sentencing grid so more people went to prison compelled anyone to avoid entering into chases with law enforcement.
“There’s no evidence that raising the penalty on fleeing and eluding will have any deterrent effect at all,” Schlingensiepen said.
Emily Brandt, who represents the legislative committee of the Kansas Board of Indigents’ Defense, said the bill was unnecessary because fleeing-and-eluding recidivists were punished when judges who factored criminal history into sentencing decisions.
She said elevating the third offense to a level 4 or level 5 felony would punish someone as seriously as if the crime in question was aggravated battery, involuntary manslaughter or sexual exploitation of a child. Individuals with a third such person felony could be sentenced to more than decade in prison, she said.
“This bill would punish people who committed no harm to another as severely as people who committed a murder or caused great bodily harm,” Brandt said. “If passed, this bill would have a significant fiscal impact on the state of Kansas, mostly because of much longer prison stays for committing these crimes, but also because of increased defense costs for higher severity level crimes.”
Police academy: Age 20
A House majority also sent the Senate — on a vote of 97-24 — a bill to lower the minimum age for persons applying for certification as a law enforcement officer to 20 years of age from the current standard of 21. While law enforcement training could take place, supporters of House Bill 2164 indicated individuals would need to be 21 to be assigned duties as a part-time or full-time officer.
“This bill would help with recruitment and retention for Kansas law enforcement departments to help address shortages,” said Rep. Kevin Schwertfeger, R-Turon.
Wichita Police Chief Joseph Sullivan, who made officer recruiting a top priority since selected chief in 2022, said one barrier to attracting candidates for careers in law enforcement was the state mandate they had to be 21 years of age prior to applying for a state law enforcement certification.
He said the department implemented an “early onboarding process” to streamline recruitment. The House bill would allow the department to formally bring 20-year-olds into the process while they awaited a law enforcement academy start date. The objective would be for applicants to complete a six-month training program before turning 21, he said.
“Increasing the pool of potential applicants will help us fill critical vacancies and enhance public safety for all Kansans by ensuring that we have well-training, capable officers protecting our communities,” Sullivan said.
What’s the hang-up?
Overland Park Police Chief Doreen Jokerst, who entered a Colorado police academy at age 20, said the reform would reflect her belief that “responsible and capable individuals exist” within the lower age group. Opening training academies to Kansas applicants earlier would support law enforcement agencies working to attract promising candidates, she said.
Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Republican who served as chairman of the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, said he wasn’t convinced lowering the age was sound public policy. He said there could be problems if 20-year-old trainees were given gun and badge before they were equipped to handle the job.
“I urge the House to move very slowly on this request because I think we’re going to make mistakes,” Carmichael said. “We’re going to have people without the maturity out there as police officers.”
Ottawa GOP Rep. Rebecca Schmoe, vice chair of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, said legislative heartburn on the bill didn’t make sense.