TOPEKA — Kansas lawmakers are considering measures to require the public disclosure of information from investigations when a law enforcement officer kills someone and isn’t charged with a crime over the death.
But law enforcement officials expressed strong reservations about two disclosure bills during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.
Critics said requiring disclosure could endanger witnesses or make them less likely to cooperate fully and could allow private or embarrassing information about the deceased or their families to circulate.
The bills were inspired by the fatal shooting by police of a Kansas City-area teenager in January 2018 and his mother called for greater transparency.