‘You commit crimes, we will make you famous.’ Kechi PD’s Facebook posts draw likes, concern
The Kechi Police Department’s social media has become a topic for the second time this year after a woman filed a complaint with the city over a post that mentioned her son.
In January, the department’s use of social media came up at a City Council meeting after Police Chief Braden Moore posted a selfie with an arrestee in the back of the police car.
And this week, Kechi received an emailed complaint after the police chief wrote a poem directed to a commenter with two outstanding warrants.
“you be hitting up our fb page cracking and acting like you got jokes…. Spoutin’ ‘don’t trip chicken strip’ like you got some kinda smokes……… All the while you smackin’ and jack’n like we ain’t got a lock on your digs….. Go on ahead and relax like we aint chillin’ and waitn’ to catch you slackn’,” the Facebook post read.
The man’s mother, Heather Carty, emailed Kechi’s City Council members with her concerns, saying “singling out vulnerable people can worsen outcomes rather than resolve them.”
“My main concern is how public communication affects vulnerable individuals and can escalate their risk,” Carty told The Eagle.
“I’m not questioning the importance of law enforcement or accountability. I’m focused on whether communication practices are consistently using the safest and most professional approach in these situations.”
The Eagle filed a Kansas Opens Records Act request to receive a copy of the emailed complaint as well as the city’s responses and has yet to hear back.
Kechi Police Chief Braden Moore, who has been the chief for Kechi since 2023, calls the department’s use of social media “modern day policing.”
“Social media is huge, and law enforcement is taught in most leadership academic classes that we are to kind of bridge the gap in generations,” Moore told The Eagle. “We’ve been able to reach generations across the board, older and younger.”
In this case, Moore said the April 21 post helped the department locate the person.
“What it was designed to do is to bring his associates and colleagues into the conversation . . . and then give us the information that we need to figure out where he’s at,” Moore said.
Moore said after finding the person’s location, he privately messaged the man, who was also commenting on the department’s Facebook post geared toward him.
“All this police work was done with very little of my time, done by other people who came and told us the information of where he was and what he had going on, which opened the dialog between (him) and I to get this cleared up. It worked, textbook perfect as modern day policing,” Moore said.
In messages between Moore and the man, Moore applauded him for creating a fresh start for himself but also made it clear that he needed to clear his warrants. Moore offered to call the judge to keep the man out of jail if he showed up to court and also said he could provide him a ride to court if needed. When the man asked if he could attend court via Zoom, Moore said he would call the judge and ask if that was okay.
“We dont want you in jail either by the way . . . Its not good for you . . . it costs us money . . . and to be honest, we would rather you be out there doing you instead of being locked up,” one of the messages from Moore read.
The latest post from Kechi police shows an exchange with the man and the police department where he says he is willing to work with the department to get his warrants cleared. That post received more than 3,000 likes.
The original post garnered more than 8,000 likes and more than 1,000 comments. The majority were positive and poked fun at the situation.
Carty said that she wishes the Facebook account showed more professionalism.
“What I’d like to see is communication practices that prioritize safety, respect privacy when possible, and reduce the risk of escalation, especially when we’re dealing with vulnerable individuals,” Carty said.
Kechi Mayor Joanie Harris told The Eagle that whenever a complaint is brought up to the city, every council member is aware of it.
“There are two options for City Council, (it) can be discussed publicly or can be discussed inside executive session,” Harris said.
Carty said the City Council members told her they would consider the concerns at their April 23 meeting. They did not talk about the issue publicly at the meeting, but did hold two executive sessions at the end of the meeting to discuss “non-elected personnel.” It’s unclear what they spoke about during those sessions.
“All I can say is it was not discussed publicly,” Harris said.
Not the first complaint for Kechi PD
Concern over the police department’s use of Facebook was also a topic at a council meeting in January after Moore posted a selfie with someone in the back of a police car who had been arrested.
“I take a selfie with (him in the) backseat patrol car, because our citizens should know who he is,” Moore said. “This is a criminal. This is a man who is stealing property around Kechi . . . He needs to be known well.
“Our job as police department is to let the citizens know who this man is. You know, that’s our stance on crime. Don’t come here doing harm for citizens, stealing cars, doing that kind of thing.”
“Ya’ll remember this guy?? The Great Silly Goose from last year who stole a vehicle and decided to run from the PD..... Well he was arrested again... in a stolen vehicle AGAIN..... at Oliver and K-254. Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office worked the case as they were the ones that located the stolen truck and followed him into our city. Luckily he chose not to flee this time and was taken into custody without incident..... This silly goose needs to find another pond......,” the Jan. 12 Facebook post read.
The Facebook post ended with “All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”
A community member spoke in public forum at a Jan. 22 meeting to express concerns about the Facebook page.
“I understand that the police department likes to use humor. I do think there’s a line that can be crossed,” Harris responded at the meeting. “I’ve become very concerned . . . I do definitely think this is a discussion that we need to have as a council, what is appropriate and what is not, and how we desire to be presenting ourselves in all of our departments as the city of Kechi.”
Moore doubled down at the meeting, saying he would continue to use humor in posts because that’s how posts get shared to larger audiences.
“You come to Kechi, you commit crimes, we will make you famous,” Moore said in the meeting. “That will happen, your face will be on Facebook.”
“If you’re sensitive about the Facebook page . . . scroll past it, you don’t have to look at it, you don’t have to read it,” Moore said.
A council member asked at that meeting if there was a social media policy in place for city departments. City Administrator Matt Jensby said there was not one currently, but there was a draft that the council could look at.
Harris said this week that those guidelines are still being worked on.
“There needs to be specific social media guidelines in place so that it’s not vague (and) everybody is on the same page knowing what the social media guideline is,” she said.
