The Wichita Eagle, Jan. 7

Death by 911 call: Wichita 'swatting' case should spur changes to the law

Kansas will soon have within its boundaries a Los Angeles man who is Exhibit A in the case for ratcheting up criminal penalties for false calls to 911.

Tyler Raj Barriss' role in orchestrating a grim and needless death at a Wichita home is already a crime. He allegedly called 911 and drew police to the home of a man he didn't know, convincing a dispatcher that a terrifying scene was unfolding.

The caller's tone is eerily calm, almost flat, in portions of the 911 tape released by Wichita authorities. The caller claims that he has shot his father dead. And he says that a younger brother and the caller's mother are being held hostage at gunpoint. The house had been doused with gasoline, he says, ready to be ignited.

To label this a hoax doesn't sufficiently encapsulate what happened next.

After police arrived at the home, Andrew Finch, 28, was shot dead when he stepped onto his porch. A seven-year veteran of the Wichita Police Department reportedly believed that Finch was reaching for a weapon. The father of two was unarmed.

Barriss didn't know Finch. He'd been recruited, authorities believe, because he'd developed a reputation among gamers for being able to manipulate police tactical squads. He knew what to say, how to coax dispatchers into his scheme. Barriss was known online as "SWAuTistic."

That's akin to being a hired assassin, but one who goads law enforcement into doing the evil deed.

The penalties ought to match the outcome. This was no harmless prank. And Barriss, 25, had already served time for a false bomb threat.

The FBI reports that least 400 incidents of "swatting" occur every year.

And yet, there has been much confusion over what charges were possible in this case. The crime happened in Kansas, but originated more than a thousand miles away. So far, Sedgwick County has charged Barriss with one count of making a false alarm, which is a felony in Kansas. But that might result in less than three years in prison.

It's still possible that more charges could be added, including against the person or persons who investigators believe asked Barriss to apply his devious talent. Finch's death is thought to be the result of people bickering over the video game Call of Duty: WWII.

Barriss has waived extradition. And few details, including the charging documents, have been made available.

That a dispute over something so mundane could lead to someone's death through the manipulation of police SWAT units is fueling the outrage and the calls for heightened penalties beyond what appears to be available to authorities. Legislators are weighing their options.

The Online Safety Modernization Act was introduced last summer by U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, a Democrat from Massachusetts. The bill would create federal penalties for swatting, prohibiting knowingly transmitting false information to prompt an emergency law enforcement response.

Another bill, the Anti-Swatting Act, was introduced previously and may be reintroduced by sponsor Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat.

Congress and state lawmakers should take a hard look now at current laws in consultation with prosecutors and law enforcement. Swatting probably wasn't a term that most Kansans were familiar with prior to Finch's death. But this fatal hoax points up the fact that current statutes won't necessarily ensure that the punishment fits this type of crime.

It doesn't matter whether the false call is made over a land line, a cellphone or by a technological gadget not yet on the market, the crime is making the false call to police. And that's already a crime. But if the outcome is death or serious injury, and if the adult defendant is a repeat offender, then probation and a short sentence are simply insufficient.

Finally, the role of police in Finch's death, can't be sidestepped.

No amount of outside interference — fake bomb threats or a swatting call — negates what should be solid police training and protocol for answering any call of distress. Police train to respond to the unknown.

To the horror of the nation, police have been ambushed recently after being called to a location by someone who falsely reports a crime in progress. Swatting is another form of such manipulations of 911.

For that reason, questions about how the call was handled by officers remain valid. Finch's family, through a civil rights attorney, has been pressing for a full investigation. They deserve answers.

Police, particularly tactical units, are trained to be open-minded about any call they answer, never allowing themselves to be completely dependent on information that was relayed by a dispatcher. Besides, situations can change rapidly.

But police and prosecutors should have charging and sentencing options available to them that match the crimes they investigate. The swatting incident in Wichita exposed a gap in the criminal justice system.

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The Lawrence Journal-World, Jan. 4

Poor leadership on state hospital

Officials' handling of a serious staff shortage at the state's psychiatric hospital in Larned is thoroughly disappointing and raises concerns about ongoing leadership at the hospital.

Last month, officials at Larned reported the hospital was often short-staffed on specific nights. On Dec. 22, the hospital was 20 mental health technicians and six registered nurses short of staffing required for the 3 to 11 p.m. shift. On Sunday, Dec. 17, officials said the hospital was 43 mental health technicians shy of filling the 3 to 11 p.m. shift.

Robert Choromanski, executive director of the Kansas Organization of State Employees, a union that represents Larned Hospital workers, said the staff shortages are chronic. Choromanski blamed Tim Keck, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, for Keck's poor management skills. He said Keck's leadership has led to extremely low morale at Larned.

Told of Choromanski's comments, Keck fired back, accusing some Larned employees of laziness.

"It's a big institution there, we've got a lot of people working there, and a very high percentage of employees are hard-working, dedicated that are committed to our patients and to their job, a very high percentage, probably 90 to 95 percent," Keck said. "But it's like any big institution. We have a number of employees who don't want to do what they need to do. We're changing the culture there, I promise you that."

Keck also accused many state hospital workers of calling in to get out of work on or around paydays. "We've heard anecdotally that people are going to a concert or a rodeo," he said. "For example, on the weekend before Christmas, which was a payday, we had, I think, about 50 people call in that weekend. So that hurts the staffing, of course."

Larned State Hospital is a 525-bed facility west of Wichita in Pawnee County. The hospital houses the state's sexual predator treatment program, where 218 beds are reserved for people who have served their sentences for violent sex crimes, but are committed to the hospital by a court because they're still considered a danger to society.

Staff shortages at Larned State Hospital are an ongoing problem. It's a challenging environment in which to recruit workers. Wages aren't great, and Larned is a small town in a rural location.

But Keck's comments about some staff members' work ethic and commitment to the hospital certainly do not help matters. The role of the secretary of the Department for Aging and Disability Services is to build and support the department's staff. Engaging in petty exchanges with a union boss only exacerbate the staffing issue.

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The Kansas City Star, Jan. 7

Kansas is in better shape in 2018. Gov. Brownback's impending goodbye is one reason why.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback will deliver his last State of the State address Tuesday in Topeka. He'll speak to a state that is in much better shape than it was a year ago.

Interestingly, much of that progress has come in spite of Brownback's presence, not because of it.

The state's budget is closer to balance because members of the Kansas House and Senate found the courage to raise taxes over the governor's veto. The decision not only restored some balance and fairness to the Kansas tax code, it also provided revenue to pay for needed state services such as education and safety.

Conservatives predicted the tax increases would harm the state's economy, costing thousands of jobs. Nothing of the sort happened.

Last January, with many of the core Brownback tax cuts still in place, the unemployment rate in Kansas was 4.1 percent. In November, it was 3.5 percent — a significant drop, even in the wake of the so-called "retroactive" tax hikes approved in 2017.

More Kansans are working than ever before. That's a credit to legislators who restored fiscal sanity to the state, not to the governor and his supporters.

It's also a reminder that the economy in Kansas, like that in other states, rises and falls on the strength of the national economy. State lawmakers should understand that now after five years of the failed "shot of adrenaline" experiment.

There is some truth to the argument, which Brownback often repeats, that slumps in oil, aviation and agriculture have left Kansas in a bind. The state's economy grew at a mediocre 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2017, half the rate of Missouri.

But there is little state government can do to directly help those industries. Kansas has to wait. And remember: Stronger oil and farm prices would mean higher costs at the pump and checkout line, too.

The state of the state wobbles in other areas. The state's prisons were roiled with disturbances last year, and a firm plan for replacing Lansing State Prison remains elusive.

Mental health treatment is still a concern, although there has been some recent improvement. Privatized Medicaid has been less successful than hoped. Transportation spending has been curtailed to cover deficits.

In the midst of all of this, public confidence in the state's biggest endeavor — education — remains strong. By some measures, statewide school performance is healthy. That's a tribute to the state's citizens, who highly value education.

Yet the Kansas Supreme Court has said, yet again, that lawmakers have failed to provide enough money for a "suitable" education for the state's children. The Legislature must fix that problem this year.

Some statehouse conservatives think the answer is to change the state constitution, taking the courts out of the school funding equation. Such a move would be a tragic mistake, one Kansans would reject.

We're particularly worried that opponents of funding the schools will seek to divide the state by pitting education interests against transportation, or mental health, or public safety, or colleges and universities. That would be wrong.

There are other answers. Additional spending, phased in over time, might be coupled with tax increases for the wealthiest Kansans. We suspect well-to-do Kansans would support such an approach.

The state of the state is getting better. Gov. Sam Brownback is saying goodbye, which is one reason why.