Black Wichita police officer under investigation, linked to racist image of George Floyd

Wichita police are investigating another officer, this time a Black officer, who sent a photoshopped image of a naked Black man sitting on George Floyd’s head, interim police chief Lem Moore confirmed Friday.

The new investigation comes as officials re-examine the racist and inappropriate messages sent by Wichita officers after The Eagle reported the messages and the department’s handling of them. The Eagle previously reported that an officer who insulted police leadership, including calling former chief Gordon Ramsay a tool, was given a harsher punishment than a white officer who sent the photoshopped image of Floyd to a sheriff’s deputy.

One day after the story published, city manager Robert Layton ordered a third-party investigation into the department’s handling of the case. Police appear to have now learned that a Black officer sent that image to the white officer, who sent it to a deputy.

The white officer, Sgt. Jamie Crouch, appears to have been given a written reprimand. The Black officer who sent the Floyd photo to Crouch has not yet been disciplined. The name of the Black officer is not publicly known.

Wichita police have been criticized for their handling of the case and lesser punishments.

The messages came to light when Wichita police investigators searched the phone of Sedgwick County Sgt. Justin Maxfield in an unrelated case. Eleven Wichita officers and three deputies were investigated in connection with the messages found on the deputy’s phone.

Maxfield and the other two Sedgwick County deputies who sent racist memes resigned or retired, which officers facing termination often do.

The punishment given to Wichita officers included a possible written reprimand, suspension of an officer who insulted leadership and coaching and mentoring for three officers who commented in a thread about shooting civilians. All three of those officers have shot or killed people.

Crouch was the only Wichita officer originally discovered to have sent a racist photo. He appears to have received a written reprimand. A source said a reprimand is usually a piece of paper saying not to do it again. The Eagle is not naming the source to protect them from retaliation.

Despite knowing about it for months, the Wichita Police Department failed to report the racist message to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office until after The Eagle asked the WPD about the case.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office promptly alerted the DA’s office of racist memes sent by its deputies. Federal law requires attorneys to disclose any exculpatory or impeachable evidence to anyone accused or convicted of a crime. That includes evidence that an officer involved in the case is biased toward a group of people. The DA’s office spent hundreds of hours vetting the deputies’ cases, checking for bias.

Moore, who inherited the issue when he took over as interim chief last month, said he started looking into it and found the past investigation “lacking in follow up questions.”

“I can promise you that during this short lived time that I am Chief, I will not tolerate deficient work nor will I allow a culture of insensitivity,” Moore said. “I am not happy with how the text and meme investigation were handled, and I welcome the City Manager’s investigation board to set thing(s) right.”

Moore said the department is now interviewing officers who were on the SWAT team back when the photo was sent in June 2020. That evidence will be handed over to third-party investigators, Moore said.

When Crouch sent the photo, he and other members of the SWAT team were responding to Wichita protests against the death of Floyd, a Black man murdered by a white officer in Minneapolis. The protests included a rally that turned chaotic at 21st and Arkansas in June 2020. Wichita police blocked traffic. Protesters flooded the intersection, turning donuts in their cars and lighting off fireworks. Several looters broke into the QuikTrip.

Meanwhile, the SWAT team declared the protest an unlawful assembly and fired tear gas, flash grenades and rubber bullets at protesters on the other side of Arkansas before descending on the convenience store. A 28-year-old Black man was arrested for firing at Wichita SWAT members. Police say he told a co-worker that the shooting was in retaliation for police shooting his sister with a rubber bullet while she held a baby.

Crouch was part of the team that came under fire, Moore previously told The Eagle.

“He explained to me about getting shot at at 21st and Arkansas that night, and his SWAT team were very depressed, and they were out there trying to do a good thing,” Moore said.

“He said that the next night that they were all sitting together waiting on standby. It was hot. And it was a hot summer. And his African American friends sent this and said, ‘Hey, this is what you’re fighting for’ (referring to the racist George Floyd meme). Moore later clarified that one officer sent the meme to Crouch.

“He said his African American friend laughed about it, and he was like, you know, I’ll send this to the guys. And he ended up sending it to the guys, thinking he could lighten the mood.”

Crouch has since left the SWAT team over the emotional stress surrounding the incident, Moore previously told The Eagle.

“Emotionally, yeah, it got to him,” Moore said. “Because of this.”

Moore, a Black man, said Crouch apologized to him personally. “He apologized up and down for bringing bad light on the department. He says that was not his intent.”

Contributing: Chance Swaim with The Eagle

This story was originally published April 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.