National Police Accountability Project Joins Legal Team for Lowery’s Estate
(Topeka, KS) — A bombshell in the civil rights lawsuit filed by Taylor Lowery’s Estate against the City of Topeka has come to light: during de-escalation training, Topeka police officers are told to “have a plan to kill.”
Said Lauren Bonds, Executive Director of the National Police Accountability Project:
If Topeka police received true de-escalation training, Mr. Lowery would be with his family today. There are universally accepted best practices that every police officer should know, to calm a situation. Police also have non-lethal weapons, like tasers, if those strategies don’t work. Instead, five officers reached for their guns, firing thirty-four bullets and killing a father, brother, and son who needed help, not harm. Now we know why: Topeka police aren’t trained to de-escalate, they are trained to kill. And that is terrifying.
National Police Accountability Project joined the legal team working on behalf of Taylor Lowery’s family in The Estate of Taylor Lowery v. City of Topeka, et al. (Case No. 2:25-CV-02700-DDC-ADM), a civil rights lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. NPAP is a national legal organization working to end law enforcement overreach and abuse. The lawsuit outlines how officers with the Topeka Police Department used excessive and unjustified deadly force against Mr. Lowery, and then failed to offer life-saving medical care.
Allegedly under the influence of drugs, Mr. Lowery was acting strangely and did not seem able to fully comprehend the situation that he was in. These are exactly the type of situations for which de-escalation training was created. Instead, Topeka police actually escalated the situation, and then drew deadly weapons — following their training advice.
Taylor Lowery was killed by Topeka police on October 13, 2022. The City of Topeka maintains that police were justified in the shooting, but also admits that Mr. Lowrey was not armed with a knife when he was fatally shot. The Estate’s legal team, which recently filed an amended complaint, revealed a chilling fact: the City of Topeka’s “de-escalation training” tells police to “have a plan to kill.”
Said Sarah Foster, an attorney with Hartenstein Poor & Foster and co-counsel for the plaintiffs:
This case is about accountability and the value of human life. It’s also about the safety of the rest of the community, when officers are told to have a ‘plan to kill. The complaint lays out, in chilling detail, how Topeka police ignored opportunities to de-escalate the situation; used excessive and deadly force; and denied Mr. Lowery basic medical care at a moment when it could have made a difference. Mr. Lowery didn’t need to die. That’s plain and clear. Now, the only action we have left is to seek justice for his family, in his name, and prevent this tragedy from happening to another Kansan.
Mr. Lowery’s death is connected to other officer-involved shootings, demonstrating a pattern of excessive force, insufficient accountability, and — it’s now clear — grossly inadequate training in the Topeka Police Department. Plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief aimed at reforming police practices on the force, such as instructing officers on true de-escalation tactics and the need to provide emergency medical response.
The case was brought against the City of Topeka, Kansas; Topeka Police Officers Malcolm Gillum, Justin Good, and Bradley Netherton; Sergeants Scott McEntire and Shawn P. Doiron; and Detective Alex Wall.