Following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the justice movements and protests generated thereby, the role of police in American society has increasingly come under scrutiny, even in small-town Kansas.
Hence the Register sat down with Iola Police Chief Jared Warner to gain insight into the situation from a law enforcement perspective, and to better understand how widespread political unrest is affecting things at a local level.
“It’s not like there’s a wall around us,” he said; the impact of larger events filters down eventually.
According to Warner, an event like Floyd’s murder prompts reflection; “you want to look at your practices,” he said, question how you’re approaching things.
As for what he saw in Minneapolis, watching the video of Floyd, “we’re not doing anything remotely like that. … We don’t train like that,” such as practicing choke-holds or other aggressive tactics.
Like many, he said he was “horrified” by what he’d seen happen to Floyd, and added “there’s nothing whatsoever remotely right about that.”
By contrast, Warner said “our officers here are trained to use the least amount of force to affect [an] arrest,” but did remark that a “deadly force-type situation” could warrant an equally forceful response.
He suggested, however, that he’s confident inflammatory situations of this kind can be avoided, especially with proper training, careful hiring practices and “know[ing] your officers’ personalities.”
AS FOR changes the Iola police department might be instituting following Floyd’s murder, whether of their own accord or due to higher-level directives, Warner said he “hadn’t seen anything that had come down through the state that affects any of [their] policies or procedures.”
“[It’s] hard for me to envision what those changes could be,” he said, though he did say he could “imagine” them coming nonetheless.
Warner said that the Iola police and 80% of departments across Kansas already do significant reporting, however, such as when an officer fires their weapon or there is injury to a suspect.
He also added that, when it comes to officers reporting on the use of force by other officers: “that’s mandatory.”
“That is part of their job,” Warner said. “They have a duty to report that, or to interact in that situation.”
“We’re accountable,” he said. “If something’s wrong, we’ll take action on that,” and mentioned that, for example, in the past he’s reviewed tape from police body-cameras with residents when potential problems have arisen.
Warner said that because police are facing greater scrutiny of late that “their stress level does go up. … There’s an emotional impact.”
“You have an incident like [Floyd’s murder and it] affects the profession in itself in a very negative way.”
