Davids Joins Overland Park Police Department for Tour, Ride-Along with Local Officer
Today, Representative Sharice Davids spent the morning with the Overland Park Police Department (OPPD), where she joined their weekly staff meeting and went on a ride-along with a local law enforcement officer. Davids’ visit to highlight her support for local law enforcement follows last month’s visit to the Johnson County Regional Police Academy where she participated in trainings.
“After protecting our country in the Army, my mom continued her service as a law enforcement officer in Kansas,” said Davids. “Since coming to Congress, it’s been my mission to boost support for law enforcement departments in Kansas’ Third District, so folks can feel safe and protected in our community. I want to thank Chief Donchez and all the officers I spoke with today for their hard work and dedication. I look forward to continuing to work alongside them in the future.”
Rep. Sharice Davids visits the OPPD with Chief Frank Donchez and Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog.
"Trust and transparency between law enforcement, elected officials and the community we both serve is essential for community policing and public safety," said Police Chief Frank Donchez, Overland Park.
“Today we hosted Representative Davids for a discussion on how the Overland Park Police Department serves the community,” Mayor Curt Skoog, Overland Park. “I believe we impressed her with our innovative programs that enable us to better serve our officers and all of Overland Park.”
During today’s visit, Davids joined OPPD officers for their weekly staff meeting, where she spoke about her work to support Kanas law enforcement officers. After a tour of the Justice Center, Davids joined Officer Tara Stevens, a member of the Honor Guard and Hostage Negotiation Team who has been at the OPPD for over 10 years, for a ride-along of her patrol district within the Parkway Division (south of 435). During the ride-along, Davids and Officer Stevens answered radio calls and spoke about the challenges facing law enforcement officers.
Rep. Sharice Davids speaks at the OPPD’s weekly staff meeting.
Davids previously announced several federal actions to support the OPPD. She secured federal support to implement Crisis Intervention Teams, which identifies mental and behavioral health resources for those in crisis and ensures officer and community safety. Davids also announced a federal grant to improve the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services for OPPD officers. Programming includes training and technical assistance, demonstration projects, suicide prevention programs, and peer mentoring practices for mental health and wellness. Most recently, she called on local law enforcement to apply for federal dollars to increase public safety resources.
This past May, during National Police Week, Davids took official action to boost resources for local law enforcement departments, reduce gun violence in Kansas, and support individual officers. The package of eight bills includes bipartisan legislation to improve care for officers coping with job-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), eliminate backlogs of untested DNA samples, and crack down and schedule xylazine, the highly dangerous sedative causing fatal overdoses nationwide. It also strengthens background check requirements for those handling firearms.
Rep. Sharice Davids chats with an OPPD Public Information Officer, John Lacy.
Since being sworn in, Davids has worked to provide Kansas law enforcement officers with the tools needed to keep communities safe. She secured funding for the Olathe Police Department’s Mobile Command Unit and announced federal resources to hire additional law enforcement in Wyandotte County. She previously voted for historic, bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation to keep Kansans safe and a bill giving officers access to disability benefits for job-related PTSD.
Davids, a member of the bipartisan Fentanyl Prevention Caucus, has also hosted multiple summits with local, state, and federal law enforcement officials on combatting the growing threat of fentanyl, the number one cause of overdose death in the United States. In direct response to these conversations, Davids took legislative action to ensure Kansas law enforcement officers have the necessary tools to fight the fentanyl epidemic head-on.