18A SUNDAY APRIL 14 2019Opinion KANSASCITY.COM

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Colleen McCain NelsonEditorial Page Editor, Vice President

EDITORIAL BOARDTony Berg, Colleen McCain Nelson, DerekDonovan, Dave Helling, Melinda Henneberger,Toriano Porter

The message to young black men inKansas City is clear: Don’t sport dread-locks and a white T-shirt, or you could bearrested for a crime you didn’t commit.At least that’s what U.S. District Judge

Greg Kays and some officers in the Kan-sas City Police Department conveyed inan unsettling case of mistaken identity.Kays’ decision to dismiss a federal

lawsuit against Kansas City police alleg-ing civil rights violations highlights bi-ases and shortcomings ingrained in thecriminal justice system.In tossing the case, Kays ruled officers

could reasonably believe probable causeexisted to arrest then-15-year-old TyreeBell. The judge also determined the offi-cers were entitled to qualified immunity,a legal standing which protects govern-ment officials from being sued unlessthere’s a clear violation of constitutionalrights.In 2016, officers responded to a report

that three black teenagers were bran-dishing a firearm in a south Kansas Cityneighborhood. One of the teens hadshoulder-length dreadlocks. The teen,armed with a gun, fled on foot.Tyree’s appearance allegedly bore

some resemblance to that of the fleeingteen: Both are African American andthin. Both had dreadlocks and werewearing white T-shirts, according topolice.Tyree, though, is 6 feet, 3 inches tall.

The fleeing suspect stood about fiveinches shorter, according to a radio callfrom pursuing officers. Tyree and thesuspect also were wearing markedlydifferent shorts and shoes.“Here, the fleeing suspect and (Tyree)

were physically similar: They both wereblack, juvenile males who had a similarheight, weight, body build, hair color,hair style and hair length,” Kays wrote ina motion for summary judgment. “Theyalso both wore unstained white t-shirtsand black and red shoes.”

The inability of officers Jonathan Mu-nyan and Peter Neukirch to differentiatebetween an innocent teen and a gun-wielding suspect is troubling at best.Even more shocking is the fact that afederal judge would allow police to relyon an all-black-people-look-alike-defenseto dismiss a lawsuit.Tyree sat inside a Kansas City juvenile

detention facility for three weeks, ac-cused of carrying a gun he did not own orpossess and resisting arrest. Video evi-dence from an officer’s dashboard cam-era exonerated Tyree after weeks inconfinement.Pleas from Tyree’s mother, Sherri

James, yielded nothing. After much prod-ding from James, Kansas City PoliceDetective John Mattivi eventually viewedthe footage. Mattivi determined thatTyree was not the armed teen who ranfrom officers.James sued the police department on

Tyree’s behalf in 2017 for unlawful ar-rest, negligent training and supervisionand deprivation of constitutional rights.Of course, James is not the first mother

to proclaim her son’s innocence. Butofficers had access to actual video evi-dence that could have quickly eliminatedTyree as a suspect. The teen had neverbeen in trouble with authorities before.“There was no apology offered, and

there is no way to wipe away the effectsof the experience on (Tyree),” Tyree’sattorney, Arthur Benson, wrote in a legalargument.Benson plans to appeal Kays’ ruling.

He correctly contends Tyree’s arrest wasnot a simple mistake but the result ofofficers’ hubris, flawed eyewitness iden-tification, poor training and inadequatepractices and procedures.“Even if (Tyree’s) arrest was a mis-

take, it was not objectively reasonable,”Benson wrote. He’s right.

Kays bears some responsibility as well.Qualified immunity can be subjective.Legal remedies should be available toTyree and others when their constitu-tional rights are violated. A civil jury, notKays, should determine whether officers’action were reasonable.Kansas City police should take a hard

look at the department’s implicit biastraining and the policies that allowedofficers to arrest and detain the wrongperson for weeks, without repercussions.Kansas City police and local prose-

cutors also should evaluate their relianceon eyewitness testimony, even fromofficers. Reasonable reforms could ad-dress underlying issues between officersand communities of color.“When the public loses confidence in

the police ... the public will be less likelyto report crime to the police and lesslikely to cooperate with the police aswitnesses or victims, which makes prose-cution very difficult,” said Ken Novak, acriminal justice professor at the Uni-versity of Missouri-Kansas City. “Thissets up a dangerous cycle.”Police work is difficult and dangerous,

and understandably, mistakes do hap-pen. But officers must be held to a highstandard, and there should be conse-quences when egregious, indefensibleerrors are made.Data shows wrongful arrests and con-

victions generally affect young blackmales such as Tyree more than any othergroup. Some have spent years, some-times even decades behind bars. Tyree isfortunate in that regard. But he has panicattacks when he sees a patrol car.The criminal justice system has failed

Tyree at nearly every turn. While it maybe impossible to undo the damage, Kan-sas City police officials could start byapologizing to the teen and by makingpolicy changes in an effort to prevent asimilar mistake in the future.

Message to young black men inKansas City: No dreadlocks, white

T-shirts or risk going to jail

TAMMY LJUNGBLAD The Star

Tyree Bell

Public health basicThe bill the Missouri

General Assembly is con-sidering that would protectthe ability of parents torefuse immunizations fortheir children and allowthem to expose other chil-dren to illnesses is danger-ous. (April 12, 7A, “Why islawmaker kowtowing tothe anti-vaxxers?”)As a physician, I’m terri-

fied that my young chil-dren who cannot yet beimmunized will be ex-posed to diseases thatthese children will carry.What about my rights tohave children free fromexposure to disease? Whatabout public health?If this bill passes, it will

be my hint to look for anew home.I urge Gov. Mike Parson

to speak out against thelaw now. Let lawmakersknow that if the billreaches your office, it willbe vetoed.

Nathan BahrKansas City

Into the trapThursday’s front-page

headline, “Barr says agen-cies spied on the Trumpcampaign,” was (unin-tentionally, I hope) seri-ously misleading. A readermight well assume it an-nounced news uncoveringan inappropriate federalinvestigation.But the only real news

was the attorney generalcalling this “spying,” be-cause all this investigatinghas been long known.

Aside from this misleadingwording and its partisansource, one also notes thatthe investigation has de-monstrably been justified,having produced manyindictments, lies and cov-erups, confessions andconvictions.The word choice in The

Star’s headline simplyreinforces President Don-ald Trump’s playbook,furthering his campaign ofnonstop misinformation.

Don HedrickManhattan, Kansas

We’re all peoplePerhaps as the Seven-

Days organization’s weekof kindness draws to aclose, we can take a lookback in history to get someperspective on what someare calling our currentimmigration crisis.A century ago, exactly

the same arguments andrhetoric fueled the publicdebate. Xenophobic, racistcartoons filled the newspa-pers. No one had any realidea who was trying toimmigrate.It wasn’t until photog-

raphers Lewis Hine andAugustus Sherman pub-lished pictures of immi-grants at Ellis Island thatAmerican citizens gotaccurate images of thepeople hoping to enter thecountry. Seeing simplelabels — Russian book-binder, Romanian miner,Italian Madonna — Amer-icans were able to look atthe real faces of folksdesperate for a chance at a

new life.I suggest that every

news outlet in the countrysend a photographer toour southern border. If asingle image is worth athousand words, imaginethe torrent that could beunleashed — a torrent thatmight set our country on akinder path.

Fran AbramOverland Park

True KC pearlsKansas City has a great

many treasures that oftengo unnoticed and under-valued. Among these un-der-the-radar civic trea-sures are highly talentedand deeply schooled jazzmusicians who performfor small audiences inmodest venues with littlepublicity.Kansas Citians can see

and hear some of the verybest and most accom-plished musicians in theirprime. I particularly callyour attention to the RodFleeman Trio, who playaround town often. Rod isa virtuoso guitarist whohas been a role model andmentor for most of theskilled guitarists in thisjazz community. GeraldSpaits is a bassist of re-markable gifts with a greatinfluence among thatlow-key group of essentialaccompanists. Todd Straitis spoken of among drum-mers as almost a god.These musicians and

friends have played allover the world, togetherand separately, with vocal-

ists such as Marilyn Mayeand Karrin Allyson, and onboth coasts with the best.In these days of frac-

tured and decentralizedcommunications, toomany fans of fine musicalperformances may missthe chance to see them.That’s a pity.

Mike MessickKansas City

Hosmer’s classIt was great to read Lee

Judge’s commentary abouthis meeting with EricHosmer. (April 9, 3B,“Eric Hosmer will neverforget his memories withKC”)Since Hos signed with

the San Diego Padres,there has been little men-

tion of him — even hisname — in Kansas City.I know he chose to leave

for the reasons all athletesdo: money and a beautifullocation. But he was stillone of our own and shouldnot have been wiped outof our city’s sphere like anoutcast.He did very well for

Kansas City, and he has

been consistently respect-ful and appreciative of thistown.Hos will always be one

of my favorite players —no matter where he plays.This diehard fan say goRoyals!

Patricia L. MaxwellKansas City

OFF THE EASEL Jack Ohman, The Sacramento Bee

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