Mayor calls special council meeting to discuss concerns over Topeka PD

Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla has called a special meeting of the Topeka City Council to discuss public concerns regarding the Topeka Police Department, she said late Friday afternoon.

That meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Aug. 25 in the council chambers at 214 S.E. 8th, De La Isla said.

She said she and city manager Brent Trout were working together to set its agenda.

De La Isla exercised her option as mayor to call the special meeting after City Councilwoman Christina Valdivia-Alcala at Tuesday evening’s council meeting asked Trout to schedule a special meeting to discuss concerns she and the public have regarding Topeka police.

Trout replied that such a meeting could be scheduled by four or more members of the council, the mayor acting alone or by the city manager acting alone, adding that he wasn’t willing to schedule the requested meeting on his own.

“Such a meeting, I think it’s a decision that the governing body should make, not one person,” he said.

During public comments near the end of Tuesday’s council meeting, Joanna Becker – who identified herself as being from Black Lives Matter – read a list of demands, including that the mayor and council hold a special session to discuss police reform.

De La Isla subsequently exercised her option of calling the Aug. 25 meeting.