TOPEKA – (December 29, 2011) – Kansas law enforcement agencies now have available for their use a Model Policy on Racial and Other Bias-Based Policing, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced today.

The Attorney General’s Office developed the model policy to assist local law enforcement officials in adopting their own policies to comply with a law passed by the legislature earlier this year. 

“This model policy will help our Kansas law enforcement agencies be better prepared to address racial and other bias-based policing concerns,” Schmidt said. “Having policies in place will help communities across Kansas understand the efforts to eliminate bias in the enforcement of our laws.”

The law enacted earlier this year shifts responsibility for receiving citizen complaints that allege racial or other bias-based policing from the Kansas Human Rights Commission to the Attorney General’s Office.

The model policy and an accompanying implementation guide were made available today on the attorney general’s website at www.ksag.org.