Overland Park officer who shot 17-year-old received $70,000 payout to resign

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    OVERLAND PARK, KS (WDAF) — An Overland Park police officer who shot and killed a 17-year-old was paid tens of thousands to resign, new documents show.

The Johnson County district attorney cleared former Overland Park Officer Clayton Jenison in the shooting, which took the life of John Albers. The DA ruled Jenison was justified in fearing for his life.

Now FOX4 has confirmed that Jenison can not only work again as a law enforcement officer but he also received a payout of $70,000 to leave the department.

Jenison shot 13 bullets into the Albers family’s minivan as John backed it out of their garage in January 2018.

Police were at the South Overland Park home after his friends reported he was threatening to hurt himself on social media.

Albers’ family settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. They’ve still been unable to get many of the documents they requested to show how police and the DA reached the decision they did.

FOX4’s investigations show Jenison made $81,000 the year he left his job, even though he only worked through March 4. His income included a $70,000 severance payment.

John Albers’ death has since prompted a big conversation in Johnson County about transparency in police shootings.

His mother said she was “disgusted” to find out about the payment.

“They allowed an officer who clearly committed misconduct to get incentivized,” Sheila Albers said. “We essentially incentivized police misconduct by giving Jenison a payout.”

In a statement Tuesday, accompanied with the release of those severance documents, the city of Overland Park said:

“In the best interest of the community, city officials negotiated an agreement with former Overland Park Police Officer Clayton Jenison, which resulted in his voluntary resignation and the city providing a final compensation package that included a severance payment as well as other benefits.”

FOX4 has reached out but not heard back from Overland Park police on Tuesday.

But Sheila Albers is frustrated about what Chief Frank Donchez had to say about Jenison’s departure in an exclusive interview last year.

When asked last year whether Jenison was reprimanded or was encouraged to leave the force, Donchez said “he left before we even had those discussions.”

“How quickly did he leave after?” FOX4 asked.

“I believe he left within a week or two,” he replied.

“Well now we know because of the buyout and the other paperwork that that’s not true, so then we come back to the question: Why wasn’t he reprimanded? Why wasn’t he terminated?” Albers said. “He clearly still has a law enforcement license because Chief Donchez didn’t take the correct action.”

FOX4 reached out to Donchez for clarification on his previous interview but did not receive a response.

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