Sheriff announces policy changes after incidents

Wyandotte County Sheriff Don Ash today announced policy changes in the wake of two employee incidents in the Sheriff’s Department in the past year.

The changes will include new, clearer policies with accountability and more training for employees, he said at a video news conference on Thursday. They have updated the use of force policy and will be doing training on use of force, defensive tactics, subject control and de-escalation, he said.

“As a human being and as the sheriff of Wyandotte County, the actions of the sheriff’s office employees involved in both these incidents are beyond disappointing to me,” Sheriff Ash said. “They are disheartening and repugnant. Actions like this harm the public’s trust in us as a law enforcement agency.”

Building and strengthening the public’s trust in him and in the office are his top priority, he said.

“We’ve taken steps to communicate to all our employees that I have zero tolerance for the behavior shown in these incidents,” Ash said.

All employees will be trained in controlling suspects and inmates, transporting them and acceptable use of force and reporting, he said. Every employee will be required to read, understand, ask questions and acknowledge that they have read and understood all policies, he said. They will be required to keep up with updates, and receive updated training on ethics and work requirements periodically, he said. Ash also said he has sent supervisors to outside training for additional development in these areas. Officers will review and acknowledge policies on a more frequent basis. Additional training by a third party will be scheduled.

He said his goal is to eliminate unacceptable behavior and strengthen the public’s trust in the agency as a whole.

“I hold myself and my employees to the highest moral, ethical and legal standards,” he said. “We are committed to our mission to serve and protect our community and that includes inmates in our custody. In every action, I want myself and all sheriff’s office employees to be guided by core values of equality, respect, service, honesty and integrity. And integrity forms the basis for community trust.”

At this time, the first incident’s court case is unresolved, Ash said. It happened Sept. 5, 2019, at the jail, when deputies were suspicious that inmates were smoking in their cells. An inmate was removed from the cell for an additional search, and was escorted to a search room. The inmate said he wasn’t smoking, and the deputies did not find any evidence of smoking.

An employee in that incident, former Sgt. David J. Toland of the Sheriff’s Department, was charged on Nov. 14, 2019, with aggravated battery and mistreatment of a confined person in Wyandotte County District Court. The hearing was continued to an unknown date because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ash said. The sheriff stated that Toland is presumed innocent.

Toland was escorting the inmate back to his cell with an escort deputy and three other deputies, and the inmate’s hands were handcuffed behind his back, according to the sheriff.

One of the deputies reported what he thought was improper treatment of the inmate to a different sergeant at the next shift, he said. That sergeant then reported the incident, the sheriff learned about it an hour later, and then required reports of the incident.

The inmate had redness and swelling about his face, according to a medical report, the sheriff said.

Toland was placed on leave pending an investigation, Ash said. The KBI was requested to investigate the incident. The Sheriff’s Department requested the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department conduct an internal investigation into the incident, which the Sheriff’s Department cooperated with, he said.

The Sheriff’s Department has reviewed policies. Employee training in use of force policy has been scheduled, but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ash said. It will be rescheduled, he said.

Actions of all employees involved in the incident were reviewed, and employees received discipline ranging from a written reprimand to termination, he said.

The inmate did not file any action against the UG, and the UG entered into a settlement with the inmate for $50,000, according to Ash.

In the second case, an employee was identified as a suspect in a hit-and-run crash on Dec. 13, 2019. There have been no charges filed yet in the case, Ash said. The case is still under investigation by the district attorney, he said. The KBI investigated the case. The KBI report is finished and has been submitted to the DA.

Ash said he requested an internal affairs administrative investigation, which is still ongoing. The employee remains on leave while the investigation is ongoing, he added.

Unified Government Administrator Doug Bach voiced his strong support for Sheriff Ash in dealing with the two incidents, saying Ash has confronted the incidents head-on and gathered facts.

“Sheriff Ash and his employees have cooperated fully with the investigations which he initially requested surrounding these incidents,” Bach said.