Press Releases

Interim City Manager Bill Cochran announced Wednesday that Randy Phillips was selected to be the next Fire Chief for the City of Topeka.

Chief Phillips has 26 years of experience in fire service, all of which has been spent at the Topeka Fire Department (TFD). Chief Phillips rose through TFD’s ranks, and had been serving as the Interim Deputy Chief since December 2021.

Chief Phillips’ father, Dennis Phillips, was the Topeka Fire Chief from 2002 to 2004.

“I am very excited that Randy Phillips will serve as Fire Chief. Randy is a life-long Topekan, and seeing homegrown talent serve in key leadership roles is extremely important to me, and many others in our community,” said Interim City Manager Cochran. “I am confident with Chief Phillips’ strong leadership qualities and experience, he will ensure the strategic planning and vision for the department continues to move forward.”

Chief Phillips was selected out of five finalists. This selection is effective March 4, when Chief Craig Duke retires.

“I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead the brave men and women that make up the Topeka Fire Department,” said Chief Phillips. “The fire service is a team effort and I am excited to work together to provide the highest level of service to the citizens of Topeka.”

 

In response to media requests, the City of Topeka has provided a video of an officer’s police interaction with Timothy Harris on January 23, 2018, as well as the attached Officer Use of Force Report/Narrative.  Some of the information contained in the Use of Force Report/Narrative is as follows:  Officer Janes was investigating a theft complaint against Harris and was also aware that Harris had an outstanding warrant for violating his probation in a Shawnee County District Court case.  He was on probation for convictions for paraphernalia and interference with a law enforcement officer.  In the course of the officer’s contact with Harris, Harris repeatedly failed to follow verbal directions from the officer.  Once Harris was placed in handcuffs, Officer Janes attempted to take Harris to the police vehicle. Harris began resisting by tensing up his body, refusing to move, and reaching back to grab the officer’s duty belt, where his handcuffs, pepper spray and firearm were located.  The officer then placed Harris on the ground for better control, until additional officers arrived.  While on the ground, Harris again grabbed the officer’s duty belt.  In response, the officer used two fist strikes to Harris’s torso and applied pepper spray to his face.

AMR was called to the scene and treated Mr. Harris for facial lacerations and pepper spray exposure.  At no time while Harris was in TPD custody did he complain of a broken jaw.  Further medical care was refused by Harris at the scene after which he was transported to the Department of Corrections.

Public records also reflect that Harris was charged in Municipal Court case CR-2018-533-MS with Unlawful Parking, Disobeying a Lawful Police Order, Interference with Law Enforcement, and Battery against a Law Enforcement Officer.  Harris was represented by an attorney and entered into a plea agreement.  Harris was found guilty of Unlawful Parking and Interference with Law Enforcement.  The charges of Disobeying a Lawful Police Order and Battery against a Law Enforcement Officer were dismissed, pursuant to the plea agreement.

The Governing Body meeting for Tuesday, November 17^th will be entirely remote on Zoom due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Shawnee County. Due to this change, only action items on the meeting agenda will be considered. All non-action items will be moved to the December 1^st meeting. Public comment can still be given, if submitted in writing, to the city clerk’s office at cclerk@topeka.org by 5 p.m.

The Governing Body meeting will be broadcast on City4, livestreamed to Facebook and can be viewed on the City of Topeka website at https://www.topeka.org/communications/live-stream/.

Topeka, KS- Mechanical issues in the lower level function rooms of Topeka Performing Arts Center caused an unforeseen circumstance and rendered the spaces temporarily unavailable.
The City of Topeka is addressing the issue and have hired a contractor to mitigate, repair and replace equipment and fixtures as needed. In an abundance of caution, the City and TPAC are working to relocate previously scheduled events from downstairs to alternate dates or to the unaffected upstairs Performance Hall and Meeting Rooms. Clearing the affected rooms will allow the contractor to work unencumbered and to resolve the issues in a timely and efficient manner.
As a result of the work in the lower level of TPAC, Grape Escape, the annual primary fundraiser for TPAC, has been postponed from its originally scheduled date of September 14. An alternate date will be announced soon.
Existing ticket holders for September 14 will be honored for the new date. For any questions, please contact Topeka Performing Arts Center at 785-234-2787 ext. 101

The Topeka Police Department on Tuesday released a mid-year report showing crime is down in all categories in the City of Topeka.

The report highlights statistics from January 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022 in the City of Topeka, and compares the information with the same period in 2021.

According to the report, violent crime is down 4.5% in comparison to 2021. In addition, property crime is down 14.8%. Overall crime is down 13.1% in Topeka.

This mid-year report follows the 2021 year-end report which was released in January 2022. That report showed the City of Topeka had a five-year low in homicides, a three-year low in shootings, and overall crime was down 25% in comparison with 2020.

“The Topeka community and the Topeka Police Department’s collaborative efforts in 2021 were absolutely outstanding. In stark contrast to the national norm, Topeka had downward crime statistics in all categories. The 2022 mid-year report, at this stage, is a continuation of that impressive declining crime trend. Particularly encouraging, is the 2022 continued reduction of homicides and shootings. There is still a significant portion of the year that remains, but I am proud of the tremendous police work that has been done thus far,” said Topeka Police Chief Bryan Wheeles. “I am confident this positive progress will continue in the Capital City on all fronts. I am thankful to be the Chief of Police in a city that has such strong community-wide support for its law enforcement professionals. That support is an essential piece to any strong and vibrant municipality.”

To view the 2022 mid-year report in English, visit https://cot-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/police/2022+TPD+Mid+Year+Report.pdf.

To view the report in Spanish, visit https://cot-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/police/2022+TPD+Mid+Year+Report+-+Spanish.pdf.

 

The point-in-time count of homeless persons in Topeka took place on January 29th. This one day event produces a snapshot of the individuals in our community experiencing homelessness as defined by Housing and Urban Development. This data is used to support federal funding for the Continuum of Care Initiative. In 2019 the Topeka Rescue Mission saw 441 people experiencing homelessness. In 2020 that number decreased to 401. 17% of the homeless population in Topeka was under 18, for a total of 68 persons under 18. Overall the numbers of homelessness in Topeka decreased from last year.

“The point-in-time count helps us to identify those people in need and to attain the resources that we need to help them,” said Corrie Wright, Division Director of Housing Services for the City of Topeka. “We want to thank all the volunteers who helped us with the count and who are helping to make our community better.”

The information gathered during the point-in-time count helps the City of Topeka understand the face of homelessness in the community so that services are meeting the needs of homeless persons. This count also helps to raise public awareness surrounding issues with homelessness and measures the community progress towards preventing and ending homelessness.

The City of Topeka’s Housing Services Division has totaled the numbers from this year’s point-in-time count. This one day event produced a snapshot of individuals in our community experiencing homelessness.

• 401 People experiencing homelessness.
• 306 Households experiencing homelessness.
• 188 individuals have a serious mental illness.
• 157 individuals are chronically homeless.
• 63% of people were in an emergency shelter, 13% were in transitional housing and 24% were unsheltered.

Thirty individuals helped with the point-in-time homeless count. Below is a chart that details and compares the numbers from 2019 and 2020. An extra 53 people in the Emergency Shelter and 42 people in Transitional Housing chose not to be surveyed.

 

2019                                                   2020

 

People	441	401
Households	349	306
% of single adults	90	87
% of adults with children	10	13
% of youth households	16	17
% of veteran households	12	10
People with serious mental illness	212	188
People who are chronically homeless	181	157
People with a substance abuse disorder	112	68
People who are victims of domestic violence	49	54
% in an emergency shelter	70	63
% in transitional housing	15	13
% unsheltered	15	24

 

On Friday, March 13th, the City of Topeka Utilities Department will be conducting routine hazardous material training. This training will be visible from US I-70 and will involve the use of harmless green smoke and employees in Class A hazardous material protective suits.
We want to inform the public of this training so that if seen from nearby, the sight will not raise concern. This is routine annual training to make sure that our employees are ready to respond to emergencies.

Starting Monday September 21^st, the Kansas River Public Access on Saline Road in North Topeka will be closed while necessary construction takes place at the river weir and boat ramp area. This is a popular area for fisherman and canoe access. However, for safety reasons the entire area will be closed to the public during construction which is expected to last until December 31st, 2020.

The project underway at this location will include a paddler channel which will allow safe navigation through the left side of the existing river weir without having to portage. The other features of the project include alteration of existing wing dikes and installation of rock and concrete surfaces below the weir to improve public safety.

For river users, recommended alternate locations for river access during construction are the boat ramps in Kaw River State Park or Seward Avenue Access.

You can learn more and follow the progress of the project using the Topeka Open Projects Dashboard under Project Number T-281058.01, KS River Weir Upstream Modifications.

Starting on October 1st, the Kansas River Public Access on Saline Road in North Topeka will be closed while necessary construction takes place at the river weir and boat ramp area. The river will be completely closed during construction due to the contractor building a bridge over the boat chute to drive equipment over the weir. There will be no access to or from the boat ramps on Saline Road in North Topeka. Portage of boats through the construction zone is possible on the north bank. This project is phase 2 of the Kansas River weir construction project. Phase 1 of the project was completed earlier this year and included a boat chute for safe passage. For safety reasons the entire area will be closed to the public during construction, including the safe passage area, and construction is expected to last until early 2022.

The project underway at this location will include additional safety features on the south side of the river weir. The project includes the installation of rock and concrete surfaces on the downstream side of the weir to improve public safety.

For river users, recommended alternate locations for river access during construction are the boat ramps in Kaw River State Park or Seward Avenue Access.

You can learn more and follow the progress of the project using the Topeka Open Projects Dashboard under Project Number T-281058.01, KS River Weir Upstream Modifications.

The City of Topeka Utilities Department routinely responds to sanitary sewer overflows, but wants to help residents in preventing them.   The department is asking residents to be cautious of what they flush down their sewer systems as they have seen a rise in the marketing of “flushable” products in response to toilet paper shortages.  Products like sanitary wipes, facial tissue and paper towels, do not dissolve in the sewer system and combine with fats, oils, and grease which can lead to blockages in sewer pipes.

The only product recommended by the Utilities Department to be flushed down the toilet is toilet paper. If you are unable to buy toilet paper during this time and must use an alternative sanitary product, please throw it in the trash when you are finished.

Blockages in the sanitary sewer system cause damage to the infrastructure, may cause sewer overflows which harm the environment, and lead to expensive repairs for the City. These products may cause blockages and service related problems in private sewer lines which may require expensive repairs for property owners.