SPD officer involved in shooting of Stacy Kenny presented with award

On Feb. 6, the Springfield Police Department held its annual awards ceremony for its officers and their families. One officer in particular was awarded twice.

Kraig Akins, whose initial following and subsequent traffic stops ended in the fatal shooting of Stacy Kenny on March 31, 2019, was awarded both the Chief’s Award and, later, the Superior Tactics and Response, or “STAR,” Award. 

The latter was created as part of the multi-million dollar settlement between the City of Springfield and the Kenny Family. 

For them, the news was surprising and the irony was evident.

“It is indeed ironic, given his conduct during the traffic stop that led to the death of our loved one, that Officer Akins would receive a de-escalation award created through our settlement agreement,” said Barbara Kenny, mother of Stacy Kenny.  “On the other hand, we are gratified that the reforms we fought for appear to be making a difference for the community, and that behaviors are changing.”

The Shooting

On the evening of March 31, 2019, Stacy Kenny was driving through Springfield when Akins began following her without emergency lights or sirens. Kenny was ultimately stopped three times that night by a total of four responding officers who smashed her windows, broke into her vehicle, and repeatedly punched and tased before fatally shooting her at near point-blank range, three times.

Per the settlement agreement, SPD was to submit to a thorough outside and independent investigation regarding that use of deadly force.  

When the independent report conducted by Michael Gennaco of OIR Group was made public, it became known that the family had contacted and spoken with SPD eight months prior to the shooting. They disclosed Kenny’s schizophrenia diagnosis and the fact that she was refusing to take medication. They specifically noted that she wasn’t hostile and didn’t own a gun. 

“The officer who met with the parents placed an ‘alert’ in SPD’s database in order to provide that situational awareness to Springfield police officers who might come into contact with Kenny,” the report said.

The OIR Group made 33 recommendations to SPD as a result of their findings including failures on all parts of the direct incident as well as within the department as a whole. Further, it highlighted the flawed, haphazard  investigation conducted by the Interagency Deadly Force Investigations Team. Many of the recommendations focused on changes to their investigation protocols. 

The Awards

Within hours of Double Sided Media becoming aware of the alleged awards presentation to Akins, we began investigating.

Notably, it was difficult to confirm that the award’s ceremony had actually taken place. The department does not currently publicize its awards within the department or the ceremonies they are presented at. By happenstance, we found a single public social media post from an attendee that confirmed it. 

Coincidentally, DSM found that, on Feb. 29, 2024, Springfield was being presented with an Excellence in Best Practice Award for the previous year from their liability insurer, Citycounty Insurance Services, or CIS. According to the city’s website, “in mid-2020, the City began working with CIS to ensure the City would not be dropped from CIS and lose the City’s liability insurance.”

What Springfield decided to keep out of their announcement was the fact that the insurance problem the city was facing—their deductible going from $100,000 to $250,000 per filed claim against the police department—was a result of the sheer number of claims from the previous five years. According to The Washington Post, that grand total of claims over those years was $8.5 million. 

But that was before the May 2020 Black Unity protest in Thurston and the subsequent Civil Rights lawsuit filed against the city as a result of SPD’s violent assault on peaceful protesters. 

The Washington Post reported that, when city officials went to renew the department’s insurance in June 2021, they found that CIS had doubled their deductible from $250,000 per claim to $500,000. Moreover, CIS told the city that if they continued to see the same number of claims as they had within the previous 10 years, they would either be dropped entirely or their general liability claim costs would increase “an average of $300,000 annually for the foreseeable future.”

In an initial response by SPD to a DSM inquiry regarding the public availability of individual award recipients, Public Information Coordinator Zak Gosa-Lewis said “we have not publicly released award winners in the past as case details are shared in their nominations and awards language.” We were also told that any future questions would have to be submitted through a formal public records request. 

Contrary to what the department initially claimed, DSM found that SPD had, in fact, published the names of award recipients in their 2018 Annual Report — and Akins was listed as receiving the Lifesaving Award. 

 On Feb. 21, we reached out to the department with a list of questions. Those questions: 

1. Is SPD’s Awards Ceremony held at the same time every year? 
2. During our research, we have found that, contrary to what was told to us via email, that SPD has previously released the names of award recipients at least once within the department’s annual reports. Is there a reason that the department stopped doing this? When did this change occur?
   1. Are the department’s annual reports from 2019-2023 available for the public? We have been unable to locate them. 
   2. Does SPD plan to publicize their awards in the future? We believe the general public would have interest in knowing who was recognized/awarded and for what. 
   3. Would SPD be able to release a redacted version of the list of recipients without divulging private or sensitive information? 
3. How are SPD awards determined? More specifically, what is the process in which individuals are nominated and/or selected to receive awards/accolades. 
4. While not mentioned in the Awards Policy, 26.4.3, do awards come with financial bonuses?
5. Does SPD take an individuals’ prior history into account when deciding to award them? 
6. Can SPD confirm, without disclosing the circumstances of the awards, that Officer Kraig Akins was presented with both the Chief’s Award and also the STAR Award?
7. According to Policy 26.4.3, the STAR Award is given to those who “[resolve] an incident without resorting to force through the use of de-escalation or other techniques.” Considering Officer Akins’ well-publicized role in the shooting death of Stacy Kenny in 2019, it should come as no surprise that there are community members who are disturbed by this particular award allegedly being presented to him. Does SPD have a response to that criticism? 
8. When was the STAR (Superior Tactics and Response) Award introduced?
   1. According to the Terms of the Final Settlement Agreement that was made public by the family of Stacy Kenny, it was determined that an award be created to “recognize officers who handled an incident without resorting to force through use of de-escalation or other techniques.” Is the STAR Award what was created? 
   2. Who has received this award previously? 

According to the department’s awards policy, the Chief’s Award can be awarded to both employees and community members for: 

• “An outstanding accomplishment which has resulted in improved operation, or created substantial efficiencies in service delivery and/or operational costs or,
• For outstanding work which has brought great credit to the Department or that demonstrated a personal commitment to the success of the organization and,
• Where the recipient has gone beyond the requirements of his/her normal assignment to contribute to a more effective and efficient police service.”

The Superior Tactics and Response Award, or “STAR,” can also be awarded to both employees and community members. This award, according to the same policy, is presented: 

“To an individual who, through exceptional tactics, acts to successfully resolve a critical incident, thereby promoting a culture of safety and professionalism to which all should aspire. The tactics displayed or performed must be conspicuously effective and above the standard expected. Presented to any employee or community for resolving an incident without resorting to force through the use of de-escalation or other techniques.”

The second award presented to Akins for “resolving an incident without resorting to force…” was created in 2021 as part of the $4.55 million settlement agreement, the largest law enforcement settlement in state history, between Springfield and the Kenny Family — the very same fatal use-of-force incident he had a pivotal role in. 

Section 1.1.g of the settlement agreement states: 

“The Springfield Police Department shall amend its Awards Policy, GO 26.4.1, to recognize officers who handled an incident without resorting to force through use of de-escalation or other techniques.” 

The SPD’s Response

On Feb. 28, SPD responded to DSM’s public records request and confirmed that Akins had, indeed, been awarded both awards.

When asked if an officers’ role in previous incidents are taken into account when deciding to award him the STAR Award, the department referred to the awards policy. With no additional comment, the same policy was referred to when asked if the department had a response to any criticism regarding the awarding of Akins. 

For future awards, the department stated that they “plan to share photos and a short message via social media, but not a line-by-line list of awards due to the sensitive nature of many of the events involved and out of respect for those affected.”

DSM asked the department if Akins, personally, had a response and did not receive a response by press time.