Wichita police board releases details of officers’ racist, inappropriate messages

The police Citizen’s Review Board issued its first public report Tuesday, weighing in on the racist and inappropriate messages sent by Wichita officers.

Board members said that the case merited a public report because of the high public interest in the case after the Eagle detailed the messages and discipline on March 21. The board met five times, including three special meetings, in order to issue the public report — made possible by a hasty ordinance change earlier in the day by the Wichita City Council.

“Our Board is frustrated by this entire case,” the report said. “The WPD has made great progress in its relationship with the community in recent years. It has affirmatively worked on building a culture of respect . . . We know our officers as good people, with a commitment to public service, diversity, inclusion, and fair and just policing. The attitude in the culture shown by these text messages is harmful to our community. But it is also harmful to the good men and women of the WPD who are committed to their jobs and the standard of conduct expected of WPD officers. We — the community, and the men and women of the WPD — must now work together to rebuild trust and make the WPD and our community better.”

The Wichita Police Department has been widely criticized for its handling of the case.

The messages came to light in April 2021 when investigators searched the phone of a Sedgwick County deputy in an unrelated case. Eleven Wichita officers and three deputies were originally investigated in connection with messages found on the deputy’s phone.

That deputy and two others who sent racist memes resigned or retired, which officers facing termination often do.

None of the Wichita officers was forced out.

The report says the board reviewed eight cases involving 12 Wichita police officers and text messaging that took place as early as December 2015 — although the bulk of the reviewed messages occurred between May 2018 and February 2021. Not all officers participated in all the messaging.

One day after The Eagle’s story published, City Manager Robert Layton ordered a third-party investigation into the department’s handling of the case.

Ordinance change

The CRB was created to advance oversight and transparency in the police department. It reviews police misconduct and citizen complaints against officers.

On Tuesday, despite pushback from community activists who wanted more, the Wichita City Council passed ordinance changes that allowed the board to make its first-ever report.

Council members waived its usual policy of giving two readings of a proposed change before approving it, freeing up the public report. They promised to go back and look more at some of those additional changes community members wanted.

“This isn’t a one-and-done,” Mayor Brandon Whipple said. “We hope to continue to build on this.”

Members of the Racial Profiling Advisory Board of Wichita, including Kansas Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau, asked the council to include more robust changes to the ordinance, including investigative power.

Advisory board member Twila Puritty, who has been attending most CRB meetings in the last year-plus, said the group is not effective.

“It’s not meeting the objectives,” she said.

Walt Chappell, who is also on the advisory board, said they should put off passing the changes to the ordinance until they further look into proposed changes by the advisory board.

Board members decided to approve the ordinance changes, with the plan to loop back around to changes sought by the advisory board. The approved changes were already in the works before the messages and the department’s handling came to light.

The situation has called for the need for more, advisory board members said.

“We want a strong, effective ordinance, just like all of you,” advisory board member Faith Martin said. “Our community is shocked and outraged by everything we’ve heard, just like you are.”

Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker with The Eagle

Citizen’s Review Board report

The board’s report, with details of the police messages, is below. The messages contain racist and vulgar remarks.

This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 5:12 PM.