KILLEEN, TX — With the recent unrest across the country surrounding racial injustice and police brutality, the Killeen Police Department says they wanted to ensure they were doing everything they can to be transparent with the community.
KPD has created a transparency page to provide the community with factual information about their policies and crime statistics to keep everyone in the loop. Some community member believe this is a step in the right direction.
“It’s scary anytime we’re seeing someone in the uniform. It’s not, it’s not the safety we were taught it was supposed to be," said Vantonio Fraley, a Killeen youth mentor.
Since he was a young child, Fraley says he remembers being afraid of the police, but through the years he’s gotten to know many police officers beyond the badge.
“Having a relationship and a rapport with the police officers is always something good,” he said.
As a youth mentor, Fraley feels it starts with the youth, ensuring they have a positive view of law enforcement.
With the addition of the new transparency page, Fraley believes it gives the people more power, especially if something goes wrong.
“We can point them out and ultimately hold Chief Kimble accountable, the city council accountable, and the mayor accountable,” Fraley said.
“That’s our goal- to arm our people with the information that’s fact. We want fact weeks instead of hysteria and people guessing. I think the more you know, the more information you know, the better you are to make an informed decision instead of just guessing,” said Assistant Chief of Police Jeff Donohue.
Assistant Chief Donohue says the transparency page has been in the works since June and will arm the community with information about their policies and procedures to officer complaints.
“My hope is that the community we serve will be able to see what our agency is doing, good in bad. They get to see more information about crime and really know what the facts are,” he said.
Assistant Chief Donohue says maintaining community trust is a top priority.
“The more confidence that the community will have in us doing the right thing,” he said.
Instead of only having the annual report, Assistant Chief Donohue says the department plans to update the transparency page once a month.
If anyone has question about the information provided in the transparency tab, Assistant Chief Donohue encourages them to contact KPD to get clarification.
