Wichita police chief suspends officers in text scandal; city manager increases punishment

Three Wichita officers have been suspended after the police department reopened a case of racist, homophobic and inappropriate messages sent among a dozen officers, interim police chief Lemuel Moore announced Thursday.

And — immediately after Moore’s announcement — City Manager Robert Layton said he disagreed with some of Moore’s disciplinary decisions and felt they should be harsher.

“After carefully reviewing the chief’s discipline, there are three incidents where I’ve decided to take additional action,” Layton said. “I admit this is unusual, but I believe that these three incidents warrant more serious consequences than those imposed.”

He increased suspensions for three officers from eight days — as was recommended by Moore — to 15 days without pay. They will be on desk duty when they return and will have to undergo psychological examinations before they can return to regular duty.

The officers suspended are Donielle Watson, a Black police officer who originally sent a racist George Floyd meme during the protests of 2020; Sgt. Jamie Crouch, a white officer who forwarded it to other officers; and officer Chad Spain, a white officer who identified with the “Three Percenters,” an anti-government militia group connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The Eagle had previously identified Crouch. Sources have since identified Watson and Spain, whose names are being reported for the first time in this story. The Eagle is not naming the sources to protect them from retaliation.

The three officers previously received no suspensions under former chief Gordon Ramsay, who resigned March 1 to run for sheriff in Minnesota.

Two other officers received written reprimands from Moore and must receive sensitivity training within 45 days. They were in a text thread where SWAT team members joked about killing civilians and being “the ultimate de-escalators.” Those officers have been involved in shootings and at least one fatally shot a person. An internal investigation of the messages in 2021 originally cleared the officers.

“After expanding the scope from a law enforcement lens and looking at the actions of the officers from the public’s view, it is evident that bragging about taking a person’s life, whether justified or not, does not coincide with WPD’s mission or training,” Moore said. “The argument that this was a private conversation is superseded by the fact that the public had obtained the conversation and it was no longer private to the individuals involved.”

Three other officers resigned from the department during the investigation.

The police department reopened the case after The Eagle detailed some of the messages and the lack of punishment in March.

The only officer who was originally suspended was one who called Ramsay a tool.

Wichita police discovered the text messages more than a year ago during a domestic violence investigation into a Sedgwick County deputy. But the Wichita Police Department did not disclose the messages for nearly a year, until an Eagle reporter began asking Moore about them. An hour after the questions, Moore — who had been interim chief for just over a week following the resignation of Ramsay — turned the messages over to District Attorney Marc Bennett.

An investigation found 13 Wichita police officers, three Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputies and two Wichita firefighters had sent and received inappropriate text messages.

A committee report found that the deputy chiefs Chester Pinkston and Jose Salcido as well as Ramsay mishandled an internal investigation and resulting discipline of SWAT team members over the messages. Moore said he is still considering if they will be disciplined.

The Wichita Fire Department supervisors were punished last month. One received a three-day suspension; the other’s punishment is unknown.

The sheriff’s deputies all resigned or retired, one immediately and two others amid lengthy investigations.

On Thursday, Moore attempted to downplay the misconduct by Wichita police officers and criticized Sheriff Jeff Easter’s handling of his deputies, who all left the department after Easter found out about the text messages.

“Everyone wants to take the easy route,” Moore said. “Everyone wants to just turn their back and not give anyone due process and give them a chance to, you know, speak and to be able to get a better understanding. And as far as the sheriff’ officers that you’re talking about, they retired. A couple of them resigned, but they retired, not terminated.

“In our investigation, as I have pointed out in the documentation that you have, the extent of our officers’ involvement wasn’t as extensive as the sheriff deputies’, so from our standpoint, we are going to be fair.” Moore said.

The three former deputies sent racist, sexist and homophobic messages.

This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 11:39 AM.