Wichita police body cam footage shows Cedric Lofton being taken into custody
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Death of Wichita teen at Sedgwick County facility
Cedric Lofton’s foster father called authorities in September 2021 seeking help because the 17-year-old was hallucinating and needed to go to a mental health facility. Instead, police took him to the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center, where he had to be resuscitated after he was held facedown for more than 30 minutes during an altercation. He died two days later.
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Wichita police have released video of officers’ interactions with Cedric Lofton on Sept. 24, the day the 17-year-old foster child was taken to the county’s juvenile intake facility, where he was restrained and lost consciousness.
Mayor Brandon Whipple shared a link to 10 police body cam videos on his Facebook page Tuesday evening, hours after Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett announced he would not be pursuing criminal charges against anyone involved in Lofton’s death.
The Eagle’s open records requests for the body cam footage had previously been denied, citing Bennett’s open investigation.
“The city is committed to increasing our transparency to improve our policies and processes,” Whipple said. “Therefore, here is the link to the full WDP video regarding Mr. Lofton.”
Footage of Lofton’s interactions with corrections staff from within Sedgwick County’s Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center has also been withheld from the public up to this point.
Wichita police transported Lofton to JIAC in the early hours of Sept. 24 in a WRAP restraint device and later returned to the juvenile facility when corrections staff called for backup.
A link to the body cam footage can be found here: https://personal.filesanywhere.com/Viewplay/linkViewplaywrapper.aspx
Some footage and language may be disturbing to viewers.
This story was originally published January 18, 2022 at 6:53 PM.
