When one cabinet door closes, another opens.
That may not be exactly how the old adage goes, but it is how Douglas County Sheriff Ken McGovern embarked on a long career in law enforcement that is now winding to a close.
McGovern had been working for a cabinet company that closed in March of 1982. Then-Sheriff Rex Johnson had an opening in the department, and McGovern took it.
“I told myself early in that ...
Updated at 10:53 a.m. Thursday:
Five years and a month after his arrest, a man has pleaded no contest in a child solicitation case — though he noted to the judge that he maintains his innocence and does not believe a jury would have convicted him.
Jonathan S. Nelson, 47, was arrested May 10, 2015, after he allegedly asked a young girl at Fuzzy’s Tacos, 1115 Massachusetts St., to accompany him into the ...
Updated at 4:19 p.m.
An internal review board found that all 17 uses of force that Lawrence police officers reported in 2019 followed department policies and procedures, according to a public summary.
Two incidents that the Journal-World has reported on previously were not included in the 2019 summary, but the department provided updates on those, as well.
When officers cause injury requiring medical ...
Story updated at 3:51 p.m. Tuesday:
A group of about 30 protesters marched through the neighborhood of University of Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self Monday evening in a demonstration against inequities and racial disparities in college athletics.
Organizer Mazzy Martinez, a rising sophomore from Topeka studying strategic communications and history at KU, spoke with the Journal-World ahead of the ...
Black inmates in Douglas County generally spend more time in the county jail than white inmates, and this problem is more pronounced in Douglas County than the national average, according to a new analysis presented to the local Criminal Justice Coordinating Council on Tuesday.
Matt Cravens, data analyst for the CJCC, said the county’s incarceration rate for black people is about 4.7 times the white rate. ...
Story updated at 4:49 p.m. Monday:
Three candidates for Douglas County sheriff shared their thoughts recently on transparency in issues of officer misconduct and what the department needs to do to train against racial and bias-based policing.
As the Aug. 4. Democratic primary approaches, the Journal-World will be discussing a number of topics with candidates for Douglas County sheriff and other offices. ...
