NCJ Number
88885
Date Published
1980
Length
104 pages
Annotation
Police-community relations in Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kans., are generally poor, especially in the minority community.
Abstract
During the period August 1978 to September 1979, the Kansas Advisory Committee interviewed local police, city officials and community leaders to assess the state of police-community relations. The committee congratulates the Wichita Police Department for adopting the American Law Institute Model Penal Code rules on the use of deadly force and urges the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department to promulgate similar rules. Both forces should adopt model rules on nondeadly force. The district attorney should hold regular meetings in minority communities and issue frequent press releases to educate the public about their rights as victims of police abuses. The city should fund a public relations program to explain what police officers do and why, and reopen the police-community relations center. Regular contacts should be maintained with civil rights and women's groups. Both the police and sheriff's department should have adequate internal affairs units and standards for investigating complaints. The city should step up its minority recruitment efforts, centralize testing procedures, and validate each test for cultural or sex bias. The report includes footnotes and data tables. Recruitment materials and letters are appended.