Month: August 2016

A study of Unified Government law enforcement is underway, the UG Commission learned on Thursday.

At a special session at 6 p.m., UG Administrator Doug Bach said the study will cover the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department and Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office.

UG officials are hoping the study identifies savings in the two departments. However, as Mayor Mark Holland remarked at the meeting, both the Fire Department study and Wyandotte County jail study have recommended that the UG spend more money. Since public safety makes up about 60 percent of the UG’s budget, “making sure we’re doing it right is key,” he said.

Gordon Criswell, assistant UG administrator, said the Matrix Consulting Group was selected from more than five applicants to conduct the study.

Melissa Mundt, assistant county administrator, said the study is scheduled for completion in mid-November.

Mundt outlined the study’s objectives. Among several objectives are that the study will evaluate staffing, deployment and scheduling in the different functions of the law enforcement departments, ensure efficient operations management, and best utilize staff to serve the community.

The study will look at where services are duplicated and how they could be addressed or coordinated better, she added.

Criswell said it is a 16-week study. They have started working on an analysis of the workloads, service levels and other information, he said.

Mundt said the consultants were on-site last week and met with UG officials. Now, they are gathering information from employees through a survey.

The consultants also will gather information from community policymakers and external stakeholders, she said. They also plan to collaborate with staff and project steering committees, she said.

In the 11th week, according to Criswell, the consultants will provide the UG Commission with the draft study findings and recommendations.

“We are such a diverse community that all of our important partners, public safety in particular, need to reflect the community, not only in staffing but in procedures in management,” Commissioner Harold Johnson said.

Commissioner Hal Walker agreed and he asked to revitalize the Human Relations Commission, which he said hasn’t met in at least eight months.

The UG also heard about a Parks and Recreation study at the 6 p.m. meeting. The UG has hired a firm, Vireo, to do a study of parks, community centers and recreation programs. It includes a survey, fall community meetings, analysis, an evaluation of community centers, and then a presentation about recommendations. In 2017 the recommendations and budget may be completed, with a master plan to be approved, according to UG officials.

For more information about the law enforcement study, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fPm5_ch7Yc (at 30:00). The parks study information is at the start of the meeting.

The Kansas Department of Labor today released a records audit of Schlitterbahn that was dated Thursday, Aug. 11.

A two-page letter stated that the Division of Industrial Safety and Health completed an audit on Aug. 10 to ensure that Schlitterbahn met all requirements of the Kansas Amusement Ride Act. The audit was to make sure all records that are required were in place, and it was not to address the safety or integrity of the rides, according to the letter.

The audit letter was released on the day of the funeral for 10-year-old Caleb Schwab of Olathe, who died as a result of injuries while on the Schlitterbahn’s Verruckt ride.

The audit verified that various documents required by the law were available, including the certificate of inspection by a qualified inspector, maintenance and inspection records, according to the letter.

According to the audit, daily maintenance and inspection records for each ride are documented before operation. A Schlitterbahn spokesman said earlier that all rides are inspected daily by employees.

The records audit also verified that an operational manual was available for each ride, and that each employee has extensive training including orientation, specialized training and a minimum of four hours a month of training, according to the letter.

One of the audit items stated that the audit verified that non destructive testing is not required by the manufacturer of each ride. The manufacturer of the Verruckt ride was listed in a Schlitterbahn ride list as Henry and Sons, the family who founded Schlitterbahn.

The Kansas Supreme Court today upheld a Wyandotte County District Court conviction in an aggravated battery case.

Michael Staten had been convicted of one count of aggravated battery. He appealed the case to the Kansas Court of Appeals, which upheld the conviction. Then he appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court, which today affirmed the conviction.

According to court documents, Staten was found guilty of aggravated battery against a woman with whom he shared an apartment in Wyandotte County. The beating occurred July 22, 2011. The victim was severely injured and in the hospital for four days, and she had a punctured lung, according to court documents.

Staten claimed self-defense in the case. He argued that he hit her in order to protect himself, and he claimed that he had to hit her several times, court documents stated. However, his story and the woman’s story did not agree. She claimed he began hitting her, threatened to kill her, and hit her with a stick, according to court documents. Witnesses said they saw him hitting her after she was on the ground and incapable of fighting back, according to court documents.

Staten was sentenced to 12.8 years and was ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution, court documents stated.

In his appeal, Staten claimed the jury was not properly instructed as to the burden of proof and who bore it.

“Instructions are clearly erroneous only when the reviewing court is firmly convinced that there is a real possibility that the jury would have reached a different verdict in the absence of the error,” the Kansas Supreme Court stated today.

The Kansas Supreme Court also threw out the defendant’s claim that the verdict should be overturned because of comments made by the prosecutor. The court today said the comments did not rise to the level of reversible misconduct. “The evidence was of such a direct and overwhelming nature that the error carried little weight,” the court stated.

The defendant also appealed, stating that because he asked for a new attorney and his motion was denied, that the trial court abused its discretion. The Kansas Supreme Court stated that “the district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that replacing [the attorney] was not necessary to protect Staten’s right to a fair trial.”