After a 90-day ban on no-knock warrants, the Killeen Police Department is making changes to the policy - saying they will no longer serve narcotic-only no-knock warrants.
The national dialogue surrounding no-knock warrants, including high profile cases like Breonna Taylor's, was one of the driving factors for the department to address their policy. Throughout the 90-day ban, a group of community members were selected to join a committee to discuss the improvements. Those suggestions accepted by Police Chief Kimble.
"We evaluated our processes, and we said that we can keep doing what we’re doing - but when it comes to narcotic only investigations, we can forgo the search warrant for those investigations. There are still some very dangerous people in this town that we deal with - there are weapon traffickers; there are killers among us, and we still have to deal with those people and bring them to justice."
With the varying types of crime KPD handles on the daily, Chief Kimble says in cases that involve warrants on a murder suspect, certain hostage situations, violent and dangerous offenders, and any other circumstance that meets warrant criteria is susceptible to a no-knock warrant. But, to add another layer of accountability, Chief Kimble has taken a step further.
Chief Kimble said, "If I’m going to be held accountable, if the citizens of Killeen are going to hold me accountable, I want to have an executive review, me and the assistant chief and the executive staff, we want to make sure that we have exhausted all investigative resources before we commit to something of such huge importance to the community."
However, with most decisions come an opposing viewpoint.
"That should’ve been in place. To me he really didn’t do anything - that’s how I feel," said Jumeka Reed.
Jumeka Reed and her mother Dianne Bright Reed have been fighting to end no-knock warrants since their brother and son James Scott Reed was killed in a no-knock warrant in Killeen in February. Jumeka says more thought should have went into the committee selection.
"You know you have to get people in there from different sides of it. You know what I mean? The people that actually experience it or have some kind of experience about it. You have people who don’t really know what no-knock warrants are before they join the committee, then you pick the wrong people," said Jumeka.
Dianne says she carries the hurt and pain of having lost her child every day due to a no-knock warrant. It is a pain she does not want any other mother to experience.
Dianne said, "It was my child; it might be somebody else child next. If they don't believe it, they are just going to have to wait and see."
"It’s going to happen again, whoever it’s going to be it will be somebody that didn’t have to die," said Jumeka.
Changes take time, but accountability and transparency remain at the top of Chief Kimble's list.
"We have a lot of tools at our disposal and you know the search warrant it’s just one of many tools that we have I would say to those that think they should be banned is that we have a process and if that process is continuously looking into how to make that process better," said Chief Kimble.
