Alva Review-Courier -

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — Jackson County Court deputies shot a man earlier this month while serving an eviction notice after he allegedly pointed a weapon at them.

The specifics of what led up to the shooting are unclear, but what the incident does show is how evictions can quickly turn violent, which can put the deputies and tenants in life-threatening situations, The Kansas City Star reports.

Court deputies receive training in firearms for their safety. But if incidents do escalate, deputies are taught first and foremost to completely disengage.

"The field staff's training is to recognize a threat, disengage or retreat from the threat, and only to utilize force if the individual continues to advance or presents an imminent threat," said Jackson County Court spokeswoman Valerie Hartman.

On Jan. 8, the situation changed so quickly, court deputies didn't have time to disengage, Hartman said. The result was a man shot and in the hospital after being evicted from his house in Blue Springs.

Capt. Jeff Sargent with the Blue Springs Police Department said after the shooting that it is "common for violence to occur during an eviction process."

In its use of force policy, the court's Department of Civil Process also recognizes process servers may encounter people in crisis and that those encounters could lead to unsafe situations for its staff and others.

Yet, the department doesn't employ social workers or counselors, Hartman said. Nor does it send counselors along with process servers.

Instead, they are expected to contact local law enforcement if they believe there's a potential for violence, according to documents obtained by The Star under a Missouri Sunshine request.

"If the field staff arrives and encounters someone who appears to be dangerous or who has mental issues, they disengage," Hartman said. "The deputies leave the property and contact a law enforcement agency to assist them in the performance of their duties."

The field staff are not there in a law enforcement role, she added.

"Execution deputies are on hand to return property to its rightful owner after a court judgment," Hartman said. "They are there to do that in a peaceful manner and the policies and training they receive reflect that."

KC Tenants, a tenants rights organization, has been fighting to end evictions for months. In January, the group led a push for "Zero Eviction January" and took actions including disrupting eviction cases online and at the courthouse and protesting outside judges' homes.

With evictions temporarily halted for two weeks this month and through direct actions, KC Tenants said the group delayed more than 717 evictions in January.

"You're taking someone out of their home," said KC Tenants director Tara Raghuveer. "And that's an emotional, traumatic, horrific event at any time, much more during a pandemic."

But when someone is experiencing that trauma, Raghuveer said, taking care of their mental health isn't their main focus. Instead, they're trying to keep their families alive.

THE SHOOTING

At about 9 a.m. on Jan. 8, process servers arrived at the home in the 400 block of Northwest Weschester Court, according to court documents.

"The individual in question allowed the staff to come into the house, and interacted with the field staff in a normal and non-threatening manner before unexpectedly grabbing a weapon," Hartman said.

"There was no opportunity for the deputies to disengage or contact law enforcement prior to the immediate escalation of the threat," she said.

The deputies shot the tenant about 20 minutes after arriving. Soon after, police cars blocked off the 400 block of Northwest Weschester Drive as officers investigated the shooting.

The victim, shot in the abdomen, was seriously injured and taken to a hospital, according to court documents for a search warrant Blue Springs police received after the shooting.

The search warrant allowed police to take photographs both inside and outside of the house and collect evidence of the shooting including bullets, shell casings, blood, DNA and any weapons on scene, as well as any paperwork and documents related to the eviction.

Police retrieved clothing, two .40 caliber shell casings from the kitchen floor, two bullets removed from the living room wall and a Crosman Legacy 1000 air rifle which shoots pellets and BBs, according to search warrant documents.

The investigation has been forwarded to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office, which is reviewing the case to determine if any charges should be filed, said Michael Mansur, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office. Once decided, the prose

The man's family was not available to comment for this story.

DISENGAGE FROM ESCALATING SITUATIONS

In its use of force policy, the court's civil process department states that it "recognizes and respects" the value of human life.

According to the policy, field staff "will disengage" when they cannot "de-escalate a situation and are confronted by an individual(s) who present a likelihood of utilizing force against them." They also can only use "objectively reasonable" force, the policy states.

The department said in the policy that "the use of force of any kind is justified only when it is necessary as an emergency measure to avoid an imminent public or personal injury" and "is of such gravity that ... the desirability of avoiding the injury outweighs the desirability of the injury that might be caused by using the force."cutor's office will issue a use of force letter.

The policy also states that any field staff member is obligated to intervene when another member is unable to de-escalate a situation or when the member's actions are escalating the situation and take steps to prevent the use of force.

"Field Staff shall always try and disengage from any violent situation and only use the least amount of force necessary to ensure their safety or the safety of others," the department policy said.

Qualification courses and training are provided quarterly for staff, Hartman said. The Kansas City Police Department was the primary source of training until February 2020. They weren't able to use KCPD's range due to the pandemic, she said.

Beginning in July 2020, the court began using the Jackson County Sheriff's Office firearms instructors for training. Integrity Arms LLC instructors have also been used primarily for one-on-one or additional training staff need.

In 2015, staff began training on four main skills — personal defense, pepper spray, handgun retention and building search — through the KCPD Academy, modified as process servers do not have authority to make arrests. The court continues to use a retired KCPD officer's private company to work on that training.

Pepper spray is the only less-lethal weapon listed in the use of force policy for deputies. They can use it to protect themselves and others from injury and to leave a dangerous situation or area. Once they have disabled a person, they must stop using it, according to the policy.

When it comes to lethal force, the policy requires process servers to contact local law enforcement if they believe there's a potential for violence. They are required, when possible, to identify themselves and give orders to de-escalate the situation.

'DOWNWARD SPIRAL'

People who are evicted — or who are under threat of eviction — often have adverse health outcomes as a result, studies show.

Raghuveer and KC Tenants have called for all evictions to end.

"I wouldn't want anyone to come away thinking that if we just did it a little bit better, if we just trained people a little bit better, this would be okay," Raghuveer said. "(It's) never ok. It shouldn't be the case that someone's home, which is a fundamental human right, can be stripped from them because they're behind $50 a month.

"Whether or not we're in a pandemic, every single time that happens we are prioritizing the landlords profits and their property over a tenant's life and that's not OK."

Evictions, Raghuveer said, are both a cause and condition of poverty, often leading to a "downward spiral."

At least once a week, Raghuveer said, she speaks to a tenant who tells her that they just don't understand the point of getting up in the morning anymore.

Evictions come at the cost of significant trauma, she said. And while there are not a lot of mental health resources, Raghuveer said, she would point those in need to the growing network of social workers and therapists.