A good day for Police Chief Gordon Ramsay and Wichita, groups say

How good of a day was it for Gordon Ramsay?

It wasn’t just that he been named Friday to be the next police chief of the largest law enforcement agency in Kansas.

It was so good that the Wichita police union said it couldn’t find a single negative about Ramsay when it looked into his background.

So good that a Wichita community group that has no trust in police sees Ramsay as a community policing guru who can rebuild the relationship.

It was that kind of day for Ramsay, a 43-year-old who has been police chief in Duluth, Minn., for 10 years. In Wichita, he will head a department four times larger than the one he leads now. His new salary starts at $170,000. His first day on the job is Jan. 28.

Ramsay said by phone Friday that he realizes everyone might not be totally thrilled about him coming. Asked what he would tell people in the department who might be nervous about a new guy coming in, he said: “I think that’s natural” to be worried, especially with someone from the outside. “I think it has probably got everybody understandably either wondering or nervous.”

But his past should be seen as a predictor, he said. “I run a pretty stable ship. We’re not an organization in turmoil, and we’ve been a very stable police department during my tenure.”

At a City Hall news conference Friday, City Manager Robert Layton said it’s too early to say what changes Ramsay might make in the department’s structure because it will take time for the new chief to evaluate it. “He (Ramsay) has not talked about any quick changes,” Layton said.

Ramsay was one of two finalists for the Wichita job. The other, Jeff Spivey, is an assistant police chief in Irving, Texas, who earlier this week was named a finalist for the police chief job in Corpus Christi, Texas.

At the news conference, Layton called Ramsay the “right leader for the future.”

Although Ramsay was not at the announcement, he said in a statement: “I am humbled and beyond excited to have been chosen for this position and can’t wait to begin working with department and community members as their police chief. The potential to make a difference seems limitless.”

Although Spivey was an outstanding candidate, if there was one distinction that Layton relied on in picking Ramsay it was that he had proven track record as a police chief, Layton said. “That’s probably where I drew the line between the two candidates.”

Layton said Ramsay had shown a deep understanding of issues police departments face now and into the future, a strong commitment to community policing and experience using data to help reduce crime, “hands-on” experience implementing and operating body cameras and experience in strategic planning.

The city manager also noted that Ramsay’s department used crisis intervention training to deal with people who are mentally ill, and had worked with a citizens review board. Another of Ramsay’s qualifications was that he has worked with diverse groups.

How groups view Ramsay

In Wichita, Ramsay will come into contact with Sunflower Community Action, which describes itself as a nonprofit, social-justice group that empowers people of color and low-income people of all races. Sunflower sees Ramsay as a potential savior, said Danilo Balladares, Sunflower’s executive director.

Sunflower is welcoming Ramsay with “open arms,” Balladares said. A new relationship with the Police Department “is sorely needed in the community,” Balladares said, adding that the group is “not anti-police. We are anti-police brutality. And that is something that the Wichita Police Department has been plagued with. There is no trust.”

But it appears to Balladares that Ramsay embraces the idea of working with community groups to solve problems, and that he empathizes with people of color. Still, Balladares said, “We’ll be there to support (the police), but we’ll also be there to hold feet to the fire.”

Part of the role of any police union is to look into the background of any police chief candidate. And regarding Ramsay, “we haven’t found a single thing that we found disagreeable,” said Robert Schmeidler, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents about 550 members.

Schmeidler said the police union thanks Layton for “an exhaustive process in picking such a well-qualified candidate.”

Layton said hours after his announcement: “What I’m mostly hearing is people were really pleased that we had an open process and there was an opportunity to know more about the candidates before the final decision.” The two finalists Ramsay and Spivey attended a public forum Monday night and were interviewed Tuesday. Both finalists did well at the forum, he said.

Layton said it’s clear that there is “a lot of support for Chief Ramsay.”

Mayor praises Layton’s hiring

At the news conference, Layton thanked Nelson Mosley, who has served as interim police chief since Norman Williams retired in September 2014 after more than 40 years with the department. Williams had been chief for 14 years.

Mayor Jeff Longwell called the selection of Ramsay an “excellent choice” and praised Layton for his role in hiring “stellar” administrators. “Robert Layton has a wonderful track record of bringing the right people in.”

If anyone was second-guessing the selection of a new chief after a second round of search process, the mayor said, he wanted to remind them that Layton was chosen after a second round of search for a city manager and that he has proven to be top-notch in that job.

In September, Layton said he was starting over the search after the favored finalist then, Allentown, Pa., Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, took the chief’s job with the Fort Worth Police Department. The other finalist then was Terri Moses, a longtime former Wichita deputy police chief who now heads security services for the Wichita school district.

Going into the second round, Layton said he was going to look for an outsider because he heard a strong preference from police staff and the community for someone with “fresh eyes.”

Choked up in Duluth

Although Friday was such a good day for Ramsay, he got choked up at a news conference in Duluth. Going into it, his mind was focused on the future. Then, he said, “It hit me like a ton of bricks … My days are numbered here, and I’m going to leave a lot of people here I love and enjoy.”

He’s not nervous about his new job, Ramsay said. “What makes me nervous is relocating my family … to something totally new” — 800 miles southwest of the Minnesota city on Lake Superior where he has spent much of his life and most of his career.

After he was named a finalist for the Wichita job and entered into negotiations for the job, his 8-year-old daughter was overhearing some of the conversations and asking her father if they would be moving to Kansas. She wanted to tell her friends. On Friday, he told her to go ahead.

The news about her father was out.

And now the family is moving. “She is extremely outgoing and a very adventurous little girl,” Ramsay said.

“And she is very excited.”

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 9:53 AM with the headline "A good day for Police Chief Gordon Ramsay and Wichita, groups say."