City report urges crackdown on Wichita police misconduct, purge of racist officers

Racism within the ranks of the Wichita Police Department will no longer be tolerated, an internal report issued by a City Manager’s Office committee says.

The report calls for a crackdown on biased police officers, poor leadership, botched investigations, poor oversight, potential cover-ups and alleged improper influence by the police union into Wichita police disciplinary decisions.

It also says former chief Gordon Ramsay and his deputy chiefs Chester Pinkston and Jose Salcido mishandled an internal investigation and resulting discipline of SWAT team members who sent racist, sexist and homophobic text messages first reported by The Eagle last month.

Wichita city manager Robert Layton formed the committee in response to The Eagle’s report on the department’s handling of the case. It’s the first step in a sweeping review of the Wichita Police Department culture.

The committee included assistant city manager Donte Martin, interim chief Lem Moore, city attorney Jennifer Magana, human resources director Chris Bezruki, deputy city attorney Sharon Dickgrafe, assistant city attorney Van Halley, Citizen’s Review Board chair Jay Fowler, city diversity manager Susan Leiker and outside legal counsel Jennifer Hill.

“The former Chief of Police and Deputy Chiefs failed to exercise leadership at a critical time and adequately address the officer misconduct while making a strong, clear statement that behavior of this type will not be tolerated,” the report says.

Instead, Wichita police leadership gave lighter discipline to the SWAT officers than they could have given and failed to report the troubling information to federal and state prosecutors, as is required under federal law to ensure defendants get a fair trial, the report says.

The committee reviewed documents and evidence, interviewed prosecutors and questioned police department leaders — including Moore, Pinkston and Salcido — before issuing its findings.

Pinkston, a 31-year veteran of the department and former FOP president, was promoted by Ramsay in December 2020 as field services commander for the city’s patrol division. Salcido, a 26-year veteran, was promoted by Ramsay to deputy chief in 2016. He is head of the investigations division.

In their answers, Pinkston and Salcido continued to make excuses for the SWAT officers, the report says.

“Statements made by the Deputy Chiefs to the Committee exhibit a lack of clear understanding of the impact that the officers’ misconduct has on the community, WPD and the City of Wichita and seemingly excuse the officers’ actions.”

Ramsay, who is running for sheriff in St. Louis County, Minnesota, recently attempted to explain the controversy to a local newspaper by saying some of the officers had been “victimized by gunfire” at a protest before sending the messages.

“When you look at this case there is context with some of this stuff,” Ramsay told the Duluth News Tribune last month.

Salcido declined to be interviewed without clearance from the department’s public relations unit, who did not respond to a request Wednesday. Pinkston directed all questions to the department’s public relations officers. Ramsay did not respond to a request for an interview. He has previously said he notified Layton and the human resources manager of the text messages when they were discovered. Layton disputes that.

Records show what appears to be a pattern of racist, sexist, and homophobic attitudes shared among veteran SWAT team members, documented in text messages and images sent from 2015 to 2021. The messages showed up last spring when Wichita police were investigating a Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy in a domestic case.

In the messages — some of which have been released by the Citizen’s Review Board — officers lamented that they don’t get to shoot more people more often, suggested an affiliation with the anti-government “Three Percenters” militia movement and joked about beating and tazing people after a Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy mentioned an incident with “stupid Mexicans.” Two officers sent a sexually degrading meme of George Floyd, a Black man killed by Minneapolis police.

The report, completed Monday, calls for ongoing training and a purge of biased police officers from the Wichita Police Department.

“Persons who have demonstrable biases should be systematically removed from the department,” the report says.

It also asks Moore to consider harsher discipline for the SWAT team officers – a captain, four sergeants, one detective and six officers.

“The discipline issued by WPD was not appropriate given the seriousness of these offenses and the impact on the community, WPD and City,” the report says.

During a news conference Thursday, Moore said he will decide during the next two or three weeks if any additional discipline should be done. Discipline is a personnel issue, he said, meaning the city won’t say publicly if anyone is disciplined further.

Moore has condemned the text messages and criticized the handling of officer discipline, previously telling The Eagle that the coaching and mentoring and written reprimand issued in the case were “not appropriate discipline.”

“Written reprimand is not appropriate discipline,” Moore said. “Coaching and mentoring isn’t appropriate discipline.”

The only officer suspended or put on leave was one who called Ramsay “a tool.”

WPD leadership failure

Ramsay, Pinkston and Salcido decided “in collaboration” what the punishment would be for the SWAT officers involved in the text messaging, the report says.

The report suggests the officers should have been disciplined for violations of prohibitions on conduct unbecoming an officer and discrimination policies within the Wichita Police Department. A first offense on either violation would require officers to be suspended, with discrimination carrying the potential for dismissal from the department.

Instead, Ramsay, Pinkston and Salcido moved to discipline the officers under less serious good judgment violations that did not carry suspensions. And then they failed to disclose the officers’ misconduct to federal and state prosecutors, as is required by Brady-Giglio court decisions.

“The Committee questions whether coaching and mentoring can be considered a disciplinary act under the terms of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract and WPD regulations in place at the time,” the report says. “Arguably, no discipline was administered to those officers who received ‘education-based discipline’ or ‘coaching and mentoring.’”

The report says the decision could have been part of a behind-the-scenes deal with the FOP, which is not supposed to have a role in officer discipline until after Wichita police leaders take action, when it may assist officers in the grievance and appeal process.

“The Deputy Chiefs were acting within an existing framework that permitted police to investigate themselves within the bubble of their own perspective,” the report says. “This framework also permitted the FOP to influence discipline recommendations at an inappropriate point in the process.

“Statements made by the Deputy Chiefs indicate WPD leadership may have agreed to sustain the officers on lesser violations following discussions with the FOP,” the report says. “Whether this occurred was not verified.”

Fraternal Order of Police president Dave Inkelaar said the police union did not talk to the deputy chiefs or Ramsay about discipline in the case prior to the decision to give lesser discipline, and it did not interfere in any way.

“The union does not make discipline decisions for the department,” Inkelaar said. “We don’t have that kind of power. That’s something the deputy chiefs and chief of police handle. We have a grievance process that we follow.”

Inkelaar said he is disappointed that the committee did not interview him as part of its review. He provided an email to The Eagle showing he asked to be interviewed by the committee on April 6.

“After reading the CRB media finding of the incident, it was clear to me that CRB only talked to the executive staff of the Wichita Police Department,” he wrote to officials in the City Manager’s Office. “At no time was Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #5 contacted or asked about alleged accusations that CRB cited.

“We would like the opportunity to speak, answer questions, and express concerns we have regarding the original investigation,” he wrote.

The city did not respond to the email, Inkelaar said.

Martin said the FOP’s involvement in the discipline was outside of what Layton asked the committee to investigate. The committee recommends a third-party investigation look into the FOP’s involvement.

Additionally, the committee report recommends that deputy chiefs and command staff should receive “extensive and ongoing training on leadership, conducting administrative investigations, progressive discipline, collaboration, as well as cultural bias, diversity, inclusion and equity.”

“Further, Chief Moore should make a determination on the Deputy Chiefs’ competency to continue serving in their current roles and their contribution to a lacking culture of accountability and leadership,” it says.

“Furthermore, limited collaboration between the Deputy Chiefs and PSB (Professional Standards Bureau) resulted in an incomplete investigation that failed to answer several key questions that would have helped determine the depth and breadth of the misconduct,” the report says. “The Deputy Chiefs also failed to fully engage the City Human Resource Department and Law Department in their review of this misconduct, which had legal ramifications and was potentially a violation of City HR Policy and Administrative Regulations.”

Wichita police culture

The commission report does not include answers or responses from the deputy chiefs, but records obtained by The Eagle give a peek into the attitude of one deputy chief about the text messages.

The day after The Eagle reported on the inappropriate messages, Pinkston sent an email to the SWAT team, telling them they had continued support from department leadership

He urged them to “hold your head high” and apologized that they were “going through this rough period.”

“If only the community understood the multitude of adverse circumstances this team has found itself in and the positive results you have achieved,” he wrote.

He also downplayed The Eagle’s report on the text messages, comparing it to “rumor or speculation.”

“There are those in our community who seize upon this story as proof of their belief that we are not honest, ethical and trustworthy,” he wrote. “That means they have accepted this as a reinforcement of their belief.

“I think far too often, we all are willing to accept any rumor or speculation that reinforces what we are predisposed to believe. I have found myself doing the same thing from time to time. When all of the facts become known to me, I am usually disappointed in myself for willfully accepting the negative. I work hard not to. I hope that is what the community and our detractors will do, when given the full story.”

The Citizen’s Review Board later released a larger batch of text messages than had been reported, outlining years of disturbing text messages between SWAT team members that Wichita police leadership had access to before the discipline decision.

How widespread bigoted attitudes are within the Wichita Police Department is unknown at this time, according to the report.

The committee recommends a third-party, independent review of the department’s culture, policies, disciplinary procedures and practices to determine “the breadth and depth of biased attitudes within the department.”

It’s unclear how outside reviewers will investigate the department and whether existing police leadership will begin its own review. The city manager’s office is working on the language of a request for proposal, the first step in hiring a firm to review the department.

In response to text messages identifying SWAT team members as Three Percenters, the committee recommends “training and policies” to “address behaviors and affiliations that are not consistent with City of Wichita values and community expectations.”

Thirteen steps are outlined in the report to improve Wichita Police Department culture and restore trust in the state’s largest police force. Besides the outside review, they call for extensive training in diversity and inclusion and for additional efforts to increase the diversity within the department, especially within units like the majority white male SWAT team.

“The WPD should intensify efforts to increase the racial and gender diversity of specialized teams/units,” the report says.

The committee report outlines some of the desired traits in a new police chief.

“Selection of the new police chief should focus on finding someone with excellent internal leadership in addition to strong community engagement and outreach focus.”

Added oversight of police department

The committee recommends greater oversight of the police department’s handling of complaints against officers, so Wichita police aren’t the only ones policing themselves.

The Citizen’s Review Board’s role should be expanded by the City Council, meaning further amendments to city ordinance “that would provide CRB with the tools it needs to thoroughly review and recommend policy changes regarding discipline and other matters.”

It also calls for a second and third set of eyes on all claims of discrimination, use of force and officer integrity cases before complaints reach the review board.

The committee recommends adding representatives from Wichita’s human resources and law departments to all professional standards bureau internal reviews of complaints against officers alleging discrimination, use of force or a lack of integrity.

The recommendations also include stronger policies on Brady-Giglio information disclosure.

Wichita police would hold monthly meetings with city law, human resources and the head of the professional standards bureau to review all PSB cases for potential Brady-Giglio issues that should be disclosed to defendants.

This story has been updated to clarify that a Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy made the comment “stupid Mexicans” in a text exchange with a Wichita police officer.

This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 4:53 AM.