Law Enforcement

The Law Enforcement Training Center presented new training methods to Wichita's Racial Profiling Advisory Board Thursday night. The discussion focused on how Wichita police officers and other law enforcement will trained regarding race and gender. The center previously used a method out of California, but has now developed its own method. The hope is that the new training will be interactive and will also include real life examples of what racial profiling is. Statistics show that African-Americans are three times as likely to be searched and stopped.

Name:  Shala Perez Office Sought:  State Senate - District 28 Political Party:  Democrat Website:  www.perezforkansas.com Education:  I have a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Wichita State University, with certificates in Forensic Criminology and Law Enforcement. I have also completed graduate studies in Public Administration and Management. Additionally, I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Butler, receiving an Associate of Arts in Police Science.

Law enforcement in Sedgwick County rode trains Wednesday looking for people breaking railroad laws. Officers wrote 34 citations. Fifteen tickets were for violating railroad statues. The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office says drivers should always stop when a train is approaching. A train cannot stop or swerve and always has the right of away.

The Reno County Drug Enforcement Unit found 450 grams of "high grade marijuana" at a Hutchinson home last night. The drugs were found while the unit along with the Reno County Sheriff's Office and the Hutchinson Police Department served a search warrant. Law enforcement also say they found steroid pills and $10,000 in cash. A 21 year old man was arrested and booked into the Reno County Jail.

Law enforcement and public safety officials from across the state say they're cracking down on drunk driving. The goal is to catch more impaired drivers. Starting August 20 and continuing through the Labor Day weekend, Kansas law enforcement agencies will team up with law enforcement and highway safety agencies across the nation in the annual DUI enforcement mobilization, "Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest. " The Kansas Department of Transportation says alcohol-related crashes are usually more serious than those not involving impaired drivers.

Local law enforcement is teaming up to combat against drunk driving this holiday season.  You'll see red ribbons tied around police cars to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving. Normally the Wichita Police Department and Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department participate in the Holiday Drive.  But this year, 18 law enforcement agencies are teaming up with the Wichita Crime Commission and DUI Victim's Center.  The agencies include, Andover, Bel Aire, Derby, Dodge City, Emporia, Haysville, Maize, Park City, Valley Center, Wellington, Ford County Sheriff's Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, Lyon County Sheriff's Office, Emporia State University and Wichita State University police departments along with the Wichita Public Schools Safety Services Department.

A soldier is killed during a standoff with U.S. Marshals and local police outside a hotel in Abilene. The 1st Infantry Division based at nearby Fort Riley says Sgt. Kirk Evenson was AWOL (Absent Without Leave) on Tuesday when he failed to show up for the second day of his court-martial. Evenson was on trial for Rape of a Child. Evenson was tried in absentia and on Wednesday. He was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Around noon on Thurdsay, Evenson's vehicle was spotted outside the Holiday Inn Express just north of I-70 at 110 E. Lafayette in Abilen.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office and the KBI bust a large marijuana growing operation. The plants would have been worth millions of dollars in street value had they been harvested. Eyewitness News Reporter Cliff Judy was on the scene a few miles outside of Bentley Wednesday morning. Officials tell says operations like this one are growing more and more prevalent across Kansas. They say people enter the backside or extremely secluded fields of landowners' property to grow marijuana.

By Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.) The radio transmissions by Sedgwick County Deputy Brian Etheridge after he was shot twice by a suspect in south Wichita have been released.  Etheridge died hours after being shot by Richard Lyons, Jr., in September. Eyewitness News has decided to neither air nor release the audio of the radio traffic. Eyewitness News Reporter Cliff Judy sat down with Sedgwick County Sheriff Bob Hinshaw and one of the department's family liaisons to the Etheridge family.

This was not how Steve Jett wanted to start his week. He walked into his transmission repair shop near Colwich Monday to see things out of place. "I first noticed the drawers of the toolbox were open, which was unusual," he said. Before long, he realized someone had been here. Someone had broken into his shop overnight. They stole his most expensive tools and a customer's car- a one-hundred thousand dollar loss. "We're just totally out," Jett said, frankly. It wasn't clear how it happened, because all the external doors were barred shut.