Lisa Finch stood before state lawmakers demanding change.

“Families of the victim are put out right away to be dissected and scrutinized by the public,” she said. “Leaving us open for harassment, veiled threats.”

Police shot and killed her son, Andrew Finch, during a swatting hoax in 2017. Some details of the killing weren’t released for months, including the officer’s name who opened fire.

His mother says that isn’t right.

“In our case alone, and there’s many others, KBI did not question the victim’s family,” Finch said. “KBI stuck with visiting law enforcement. It’s law enforcement investigating law enforcement in a very closed area.”

She and other want that to change and are supporting a house bill that would require two outside investigations into fatal police shootings. It also aims to make more evidence public in those shootings, even if officers are not charged.

“We have no problem with an outside agency working that particular case,” said Sheriff Jeff Easter, Sedgwick county.

His agency didn’t investigate the Finch case, but he says the bill is missing details – including how long investigators would have to wait for other agencies during a time-sensitive case.

“Scenes are usually very chaotic, you have a lot of witnesses, there’s a lot of evidence to secure, depending on when the suspect has escaped, is this bill saying we have to wait for two investigators to get there from somewhere else?”

But Finch insists, the current setup isn’t working.

“Why are the police allowed to hide?” she said.

The committee in Topeka said it would like to find a compromise inbetween the two sides that testified. Any changes are not likely to pass this session.