Overland Park police officer Clayton Jenison claimed he was in fear for his life when he opened fire on a 17-year-old boy who was slowly backing a vehicle out of a garage two years ago.
But a dashcam video shows the cop had plenty of time to move out the way.
And a neighbor’s security camera shows Jenison was not even in the driveway when the garage door started opening.
But the cop was quick to plant himself behind the vehicle which gave him an excuse to kill the teen whom he was supposed to save from committing suicide.
And it paid off because not only was Jenison cleared of all wrongdoing, he was awarded $70,000 in severance pay along with another $11,000 in unused vacation and salary after resigning from the department shortly after the shooting
But last week, the FBI announced it is opening an investigation into the shooting which means Jenison’s Blue Privilege might be close to expiring.
The incident took place on January 20, 2018 after Albers went on Facebook Live and contemplated suicide, prompting his friends to call police, thinking they were doing the right thing.
The video shows only 13 seconds passed from the time the garage door began opening to the moment Jenison fired his gun 13 times into Alber’s car after yelling “stop!” three times. It doesn’t even appear as if Albers knew Jenison was standing in the driveway.
The shooting was found to be justified by the local district attorney within a month and by the following month in March 2018, Jenison had resigned after receiving $81,000 in severance pay, unused vacation and salary.
But the financial part of the agreement was not made public until more than two years later after Albers’ mother, Sheila Albers, received a tip. A city flack said it was “in the best interest of the community” to pay Jenison that much money, even though his salary was only $46,000.
According to the Washington Post:
In February 2018, the Johnson County district attorney announced that the officer would not be charged and that the slaying was justifiable. At the same time, District Attorney Steve Howe announced that the officer had resigned before any administrative action could be taken.
Overland Park officials did not disclose the following month that they paid a severance package in March 2018 to Jenison totaling more than $81,000, though records show his salary was roughly $46,000. City spokesman Sean Reilly said Thursday that “in the best interest of the community,” the city negotiated an agreement with Jenison “which resulted in his voluntary resignation,” to include $8,000 in pay, $3,040 in unused vacation and comp time, and a $70,000 severance payment.
No Overland Park city official would explain why they felt a $70,000 severance payment was “in the best interest of the community.” Mayor Carl Gerlach, Police Chief Frank Donchez, City Council President Fred Spears and assistant city attorney Eric Blevins all did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Overland Park City Councilman Paul Lyons, who now chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee, told the Kansas City Star that since the Johnson County prosecutor ruled the killing justifiable, Jenison couldn’t be fired. But police departments may move to fire officers whose acts are ruled legal but are still in violation of department policy. Fired officers do not receive severance packages.
The FBI issued the following statement regarding the investigation.
“The Kansas City Field FBI Field Office, the Civil Rights division, and the US Attorney’s office for the District of Kansas have opened a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of an Overland Park teen, John Albers, that occurred in January of 2018. The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence and will ensure that the investigation is conducted in a fair, thorough and impartial manner. As this is an ongoing investigation we are not able to comment further at this time.”
Although most Americans are conditioned to call police for help with suicidal family members, they are the last people who should be called because they are only trained to escalate confrontations in order to gain control which tends to aggravate the suicidal person.
Cops are also unable to get a grip on their own suicide crisis which is claiming the lives of more cops than those killed in the line of duty.
