Leland MS police report show details in the death of 17-year-old Kadarius Smith
A redacted copy of a Leland Police Department incident report reveals new details regarding a weapon in 17-year-old Kadarius Smith's fatal encounter with an unnamed Leland police officer.
City Attorney Josh Bogen sent the redacted indecent report to the Clarion Ledger on Monday, April 29.
According to the incident report, an unidentified officer was dispatched at approximately 1:45 a.m. on March 21 to 105 Davis Lane in Leland.
The call was in reference to "two suspects outside of the residence with handguns," the report states.
The report says that upon police arrival, Smith "jumped from the porch" of the residence, "cuffed the right side of his pants," and "took off running."
At that time, the unidentified officer began to pursue Smith on-foot, the report says.
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According to the incident report, Smith then led the officer to the "rear of a dark residence" that "appeared to be abandoned."
The report states the officer stopped the on-foot pursuit "being unaware" of Smith's location around the residence.
The report says Smith kept running onto Huddleston Street, which is roughly on-foot 0.3 miles away from Davis Lane.
According to police, that is when Smith "ran out in front of" the officer who was driving the police unit in pursuit of Smith. The report provides the description of the unnamed driver as being a Black male.
According to the report, the officer "could not stop the patrol unit immediately," which led to the officer hitting Smith with the patrol unit. The report does not state what part of Smith's body the officer struck.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Smith’s mother Kaychia Calvert, previously told the Clarion Ledger that Smith was run over from behind, leaving "police cruiser tire marks on his back." Smith later died at a hospital.
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The Clarion Ledger reached out to Crump's office for a response to the new details but did not receive an immediate response.
On April 16, Crump and the family of the deceased 17-year-old demanded for police to release camera footage of the teen's death, but Bogen told the Clarion Ledger on April 16, there is no footage of the late March incident.
Bogen said there is no dashcam footage, and the officer involved was not wearing a body cam.
The Clarion Ledger filed a public records request April 22 seeking documents for the most recent copy of Leland Police Department's handbook or guidelines that includes the police department's policies on the use of body worn cameras and dashcams.
Bogen issued a statement April 24 via email writing there are "no written policies" in the police handbook related to dash or body cams. Bogen also wrote he was advised that the Leland Police Department "did not have any 'policies' or 'procedures' in place" for dash or body cams in 2024 or in previous years.
"The Leland PD officers aren't required to wear body cams nor have our patrol cars been required to do so to my knowledge. However, the PD is in the process of acquiring the equipment to do so," Bogan said via email to the Clarion Ledger.
Bogen wrote in the email to the Clarion Ledger that he could not answer whether the police department is planning to adopt any written policies about body and dash cameras.
Mississippi has no state policy regarding the use of body-worn cameras, including no requirement that departments use cameras.
According to Bogen, the unnamed officer involved is still on the force but has been on administrative leave since the March 21 incident occurred pending the investigation.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Leland Mississippi police incident report in Kadarius Smith's death
