Officers can discuss incidents with counselors off the record under a bill recently signed into law. Senate File 267 allows officers and other first responders to receive counseling from a peer support group and have the information discussed remain confidential.
Kevin Kinney is the State Senator for District 39 and was floor manager for the bill. He served as a lieutenant in the Investigations Division of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office before retiring. He says the ability to receive counseling would have been helpful in dealing with the emotions he experienced after working the Jetseta Gage homicide crime scene. He shares he was one of the first officers to arrive and worked at the scene for an extended period of time.
Gage’s body was found in a mobile home in rural Johnson County in 2005. Roger Bentley was later sentenced to two life terms in prison for kidnapping and murdering the 10-year-old.