| Agencyname: | Overland Park Police Department |
| Abbreviation: | OPPD |
| Budget: | $31,119,644 (2008) |
| Country: | United States |
| Divtype: | State |
| Divname: | Kansas |
| Subdivtype: | City |
| Subdivname: | Overland Park |
| Legaljuris: | City of Overland Park |
| Police: | Yes |
| Local: | Yes |
| Sworntype: | Police officer |
| Sworn: | (December 2021) |
| Unsworntype: | Civilian employees |
| Unsworn: | 55 |
| Chief1name: | Simon Happer |
| Chief1position: | Interim Chief of Police (Formerly Deputy Chief of Police) |
The Overland Park Police Department is a local police department in Kansas and is located in Johnson County, Kansas. The department was known as Mission Township Police Department prior to 1960.[1]
The Overland Park Police Department (OPPD) was formed in 1960 when the Mission Township Police Department disbanded and became the Overland Park Police Department. The department was also formed when Overland Park became a "first class city".
Tragedy first affected the Overland Park Police Department on January 19, 1968, when a Kansas Highway Patrol Sergeant, Eldon K. Miller, was shot and killed in Overland Park. The incident began when four individuals, led by Henry Floyd Brown, placed a soda can packed with five half-sticks of dynamite outside Overland Park's City Hall. Soon after being placed, the device exploded, causing $3,000 worth of damage to a brick wall and air conditioning unit. The explosion was meant to divert attention from a bank robbery they had planned nearby. After placing the explosive, the four men proceeded to the nearby Metcalf State Bank, near the intersection of 79th Street and Metcalf Avenue. The men left the bank with $13,000 in cash, and a chase by Overland Park Police ensued. An Overland Park Police motorcycle officer was wounded after being shot with a rifle during the chase, and the suspects were then found in the Heatherwood apartment complex when officers found the getaway vehicle used in the robbery. Following the discovery, officers set up a perimeter around the apartment complex, and Trooper Miller hopped in a Johnson County Sheriff's Office patrol car and used the patrol car to cover other officers from gunfire. As he was moving the vehicle, the suspects started shooting, and gunfire hit Trooper Miller in the head, killing him immediately. The suspects were arrested and sent to prison.[2] [3]
Three Overland Park officers have been killed in the line of duty. Officer Deanna H. Rose was killed on January 6, 1985, when she was in the process of attempting to arrest 19-year-old Kenneth Meunier for drunk driving.[4] As she tried to arrest him, he knocked her down, got in his car, and ran her over; she died two days later. He was later arrested for the crime and went to prison, but was eventually released. She was the first female police officer killed in the state of Kansas. The Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead was renamed in her honor.[5] The second was on May 4, 2020, when Officer Michael Mosher was killed after he witnessed a hit and run and pursued the vehicle involved. Following a brief chase, Officer Mosher and the suspect exchanged gunfire, and both died as a result.[6] In 2021, Officer Freddie Castro contracted Covid-19 while on duty for the Overland Park Police Department. Officer Castro would then go on to pass away from complications due to Covid-19.[7]
See main article: Killing of John Albers. On January 20, 2018, OPPD Officer Clayton Jenison shot and killed 17-year-old John Albers while he was investigating a call in which Albers was threatening to commit suicide. Friends of Albers, who were concerned about his health and safety, called 911 to report that John was threatening to harm himself. When the officers arrived, they waited outside of the house for a few minutes before waiting for other officers before approaching. Officer Jenison parked down the street, walked up to the house, walked in the front yard, and was approaching the garage door when it began to open. John had opened the garage and was backing out of his garage in his mom's Honda Odyssey minivan when Officer Jenison felt that his life was in danger and fired two rounds from his department-issued sidearm. However, the van then did a 180-degree turn somewhat in reverse, and then Officer Jenison fired 11 more rounds, having fired 13 rounds total. The van then rolled down the driveway and into the street before stopping across the street in another house's front yard. Officers then approached the van to give aid to John following the shooting, but the injuries would prove to be fatal. John Albers was declared dead on the scene and had been shot multiple times by Officer Jenison.[8]
Officer Jenison would be cleared in the shooting by the Johnson County District Attorney, Steve Howe, who said the officer acted within Kansas Law when he opened fire. Officer Jenison, however, would leave the department following a payout that was negotiated for an $81,040 buyout, which included $70,000 for severance pay and an additional $11,040 for his regular salary.[9] Following the shooting, the OPPD updated their policy in regards to firing at moving vehicles in order to hopefully prevent a similar incident from happening again. John's mother, Sheila Albers, filed a federal lawsuit following the shooting, which was settled with the city in 2019 for $2.3 million.[10] The FBI also started an investigation into the shooting. Former OPPD Chief Frank Donchez has also been criticized by Sheila Albers due to his handling of the incident, which she claims involved him protecting "bad policing" and that he had "misled the public".[11] However, following an investigation by the Kansas Commission on Police Officers Standards and Training (CPOST), Sheila Albers was told that no action would be taken against Chief Donchez. Sheila Albers has called it "shameful" that no action was taken against Donchez.[12] In April 2021, the city of Overland Park released a 500-page document which showed pictures of evidence, crime scene, dashcam, and more information in regards to the shooting of John Albers.[13]