With the announcement in late December 2023 that 13 Johnson County police departments would move to full encryption of all radio communications, many followers have asked how they can help fight for transparency and access to police radio transmissions.
 |
| Click to view larger. |
Whether you prefer to attend and speak during a city council meeting, send emails, or make phone calls, What matters is that those elected to represent you know your opinion on this move.
Tell them why this issue matters to you.
Ask them if they were consulted by anyone from their police department about the decision to lock out the public and reporters from day-to-day police operations.
Let them know why it should matter to them and to the city they represent as a whole.
Those who hold elected office need to understand the importance of checks and balances at all levels of our country's government. They have sworn an oath to uphold our country's and our state's constitution. That includes the right to free speech and the ability for journalists to do their jobs without interference from the government.
Below, I've compiled a list of elected city officials and non-elected police officials for all of the cities and municipal police departments that have announced their intent to use full encryption of all operations beginning January 23, 2024.
The linked city council/governing body websites include maps to find your elected representative. I suggest contacting every elected representative within your city. This ensures that all members have received the same feedback and information from a constituent.
I have excluded the school district police departments, as most of their radio traffic concerns school security and children. Any more significant events or incidents on those campuses would involve the local municipal police department.
EDITOR'S NOTE: If you prefer to make phone calls, those numbers can be found on each city and police department's webpage. If you plan to call a police department, please use an administrative phone number, not the non-emergency number or 911.
Alphabetically:
Fairway:
City Council webpage
Mayor - Melanie Hepperly Email - mhepperly@fairwaykansas.org
Ward 1 - Kelly-Anne Buszek Email - kbuszek@fairwaykansas.org
Ward 1 - Lee Story Email - lstory@fairwaykansas.org
Ward 2 - Dan Bailey Email - dbailey@fairwaykansas.org
Ward 2 - Jerry Williams Email - jwilliams@fairwaykansas.org
Ward 3 - Joseph Levin Email - jlevin@fairwaykansas.org
Ward 3 - David Watkins Email - dwatkins@fairwaykansas.org
Ward 4 - Jenna Brofsky Email - jbrofsky@fairwaykansas.org
Ward 4 - Tanya Keys Email - tkeys@fairwaykansas.org
Police webpage
Police Chief/Public Information Officer: J.P. Thurlo Email - jpthurlo@fairwaykansas.org
Leawood:
Governing Body webpage
Full Governing Body (Mayor and all councilmembers) - Email - allcouncil@leawood.org
The city of Leawood's website still needs to be updated with contact information for the new mayor or two new council members who started their terms on January 2, 2024.
Until that update is made, I would suggest using the allcouncil@leawood.org address.
Police webpage
Police Command Staff Email - policecommandstaff@leawood.org
Police Public Information Officer: Captain Brad Robbins Email - bradr@leawood.org
Lenexa:
City Council webpage
Mayor - Julie Sayers Email - jsayers@lenexa.com
Ward 1 - Joe Karlin Email - jkarlin@lenexa.com
Ward 1 - Courtney Eiterich Email - ceiterich@lenexa.com
Ward 2 - Bill Nicks Email - bnicks@lenexa.com
Ward 2 - Mark Charlton Email - mcharlton@lenexa.com
Ward 3 - Melanie Arroyo Email - marroyo@lenexa.com
Ward 3 - Chelsea Williamson Email - cwilliamson@lenexa.com
Ward 4 - Craig Denny Email - cdenny@lenexa.com
Ward 4 - Chris Herron Email - cherron@lenexa.com
Police webpage
Police Chief Dawn Layman Email - dlayman@lenexa.com
Police Public Information Officer Email - lenexapdpio@lenexa.com
Merriam:
City Council webpage
Mayor - Bob Pape Email - bpape@merriam.org
Ward 1 - Jacob Laha Email - jlaha@merriam.org
Ward 1 - Jason Silvers Email - jsilvers@merriam.org
Ward 2 - Whitney Yadrich Email - wyadrich@merriam.org
Ward 2 - Amy Rider Email - arider@merriam.org
Ward 3 - Christine Evans Hands Email - chrish@merriam.org
Ward 3 - Bruce Kaldahl Email - bkaldahl@merriam.org
Ward 4 - David Neal Email - dneal@merriam.org
Ward 4 - Staci Chivetta Email - schivetta@merriam.org
Police webpage
Police Chief Darren McLaughlin Email - dmclaughlin@merriam.org
Police Public Information Officer: Captain Jeremiah Waters Email - jwaters@merriam.org
Mission:
Governing Body webpage
Mayor - Sollie Flora Email - sflora@missionks.org
Ward 1 - Hillary Parker Thomas Email - hthomas@missionks.org
Ward 1 - Trent Boultinghouse Email - tboultinghouse@missionks.org
Ward 2 - Lea Loudon Email - lloudon@missionks.org
Ward 2 - Mary Ryherd Email - mryherd@missionks.org
Ward 3 - Brian Schmid Email - bschmid@missionks.org
Ward 3 - Debbie Kring Email - dkring@missionks.org
Ward 4 - Ben Chociej Email - bchociej@missionks.org
Ward 4 - Cheryl Carpenter-Davis Email - ccarpenter-davis@missionks.org
Police webpage
Police Chief/Public Information Officer: Dan Madden Email - dmadden@missionks.org
Olathe:
City Council webpage
Mayor - John Bacon Email - jbacon@olatheks.org
Mayor Pro Tem - Kevin Gilmore Email - kpgilmore@olatheks.org
At-Large - Wes McCoy Email - rwmccoy@olatheks.org
Ward 1 - Robyn Essex Email - rressex@olatheks.org
Ward 2 - Adam Mickelson Email - amickelson@olatheks.org
Ward 3 - LeEtta Felter Email - lfelter@olatheks.org
Ward 4 - Marge Vogt Email - mvogt@olatheks.org
Police webpage
Police Chief Mike Butaud Email - mbutaud@olatheks.org
Police Public Information Officer Sergeant John Moncayo Email - jamoncayo@olatheks.org
Overland Park:
City Council webpage
Full Governing Body (mayor and all council members) Email - governingbody@opkansas.org
Mayor - Curt Skoog Email - curt.skoog@opkansas.org or Email - mayor@opkansas.org
Ward 1 - Logan Heley Email - logan.heley@opkansas.org
Ward 1 - Holly Grummert Email - holly.grummert@opkansas.org
Ward 2 - Melissa Cheatham Email - melissa.cheatham@opkansas.org
Ward 2 - Drew Mitrisin Email - drew.mitrisin@opkansas.org
Ward 3 - Jim Kite Email - jim.kite@opkansas.org
Ward 3 - Richard Borlaza Email - richard.borlaza@opkansas.org
Ward 4 - Scott Mosher Email - scott.mosher@opkansas.org
Ward 4 - Greg Riess Email - gregg.riess@opkansas.org
Ward 5 - Sam Passer Email - sam.passer@opkansas.org
Ward 5 - Inas Younin Email - inas.younis@opkansas.org
Ward 6 - Jeff Cox Email - jeff.cox@opkansas.org
Ward 6 - Chris Newlin Email - chris.newlin@opkansas.org
Police webpage
Interim Police Chief Simon Happer Email - simon.happer@opkansas.org
Police Public Information Officer John Lacy Email - john.lacy@opkansas.org
Prairie Village:
City Council webpage
Full Governing Body (mayor, council members, city administrator/deputy/assistants, and city clerk) Email - councilmembers@pvkansas.com
Mayor - Eric Mikkelson Email - mayor@pvkansas.com
Ward 1 - Cole Robinson Email - crobinson@pvkansas.com
Ward 1 - Terry O'Toole Email - totoole@pvkansas.com
Ward 2 - Ron Nelson Email - rnelson@pvkansas.com
Ward 2 - Inga Selders Email - iselders@pvkansas.com
Ward 3 - Lauren Wolf Email - lwolf@pvkansas.com
Ward 3 - Lori Sharp Email - lsharp@pvkansas.com
Ward 4 - Dave Robinson Email - drobinson@pvkansas.com
Ward 4 - Tyler Agniel Email - tagniel@pvkansas.com
Ward 5 - Greg Shelton Email - gshelton@pvkansas.com
Ward 5 - Nick Reddell Email - nreddell@pvkansas.com
Ward 6 - Terrence Gallagher Email - tgallagher@pvkansas.com
Ward 6 - Ian Graves Email - igraves@pvkansas.com
Police webpage
Police Chief Byron Roberson Email - broberson@pvkansas.com
Police Public Information Officer Captain Eric McCullough Email - emccullough@pvkansas.com
Roeland Park:
City Council webpage
Mayor - Michael Moppa Email - mpoppa@roelandpark.org
Ward 1 - Jan Faidley Email - jfaidley@roelandpark.org
Ward 1 - Tom Madigan Email - tmadigan@roelandpark.org
Ward 2 - Jennifer Hill Email - jhill@roelandpark.org
Ward 2 - Benjamin Dickens Email - bdickens@roelandpark.org
Ward 3 - Kate Raglow Email - kraglow@roelandpark.org
Ward 3 - Emily Hage Email - ehage@roelandpark.org
Ward 4 - Matthew Lero Email - mlero@roelandpark.org
Ward 4 - Vacant
Police webpage
Police Chief/Public Information Officer John Morris Email - emorris@roelandpark.org
Shawnee:
Governing Body webpage
Full Governing Body (mayor and all council members) Email - governingbody@cityofshawnee.org
Mayor - Mickey Sandifer Email - msandifer@cityofshawnee.org
Ward 1 - Tony Gillette Email - tgillette@cityofshawnee.org
Ward 1 - Sierra Whitted Email - swhitted@cityofshawnee.org
Ward 2 - Dr. Mike Kemmling Email - mkemmling@cityofshawnee.org
Ward 2 - Jeanie Murphy Email - jmurphy@cityofshawnee.org
Ward 3 - Kurt Knappen Email - kknappen@cityofshawnee.org
Ward 3 - Angela Stiens Email - astiens@cityofshawnee.org
Ward 4 - Jacklynn Walters Email - jwalters@cityofshawnee.org
Ward 4 - Laurel Burchfield Email - lburchfield@cityofshawnee.org
Police webpage
Police Chief Sam Larson Email - slarson@cityofshawnee.org
Public Safety Information Officer Email - erittman@cityofshawnee.org
Westwood:
City Council webpage
Mayor - David Waters Email - david.waters@westwoodks.org
City Council President Jeff Harris Email - jeff.harris@westwoodks.org
Council member Andrew Buckman Email - andrew.buckman@westwoodks.org
Council member Jason Hannaman Email - jason.hannaman@westwoodks.org
Council member Laura Steele Email - laura.steele@westwoodks.org
Council member Holly Wimer Email - holly.wimer@westwoodks.org
Police webpage
Police Chief/Public Information Officer Curt Mansell Email - curtis.mansell@westwoodkspd.org
Contact Operation100News' Mike Frizzell with any questions about this post or the information listed here. Email - Operation100News@gmail.com
