Wichita police Chief Gordon Ramsay to resign March 1

Wichita police Chief Gordon Ramsay plans to resign from his position on March 1, after nearly six years as the head of the largest police department in Kansas.

Ramsay announced the decision in a memo sent to the entire department on Friday morning, saying it comes with “mixed emotions.”

“I am leaving WPD for the betterment of my family as they are the most important thing in my life and we are at a time when it is most important I am there for them,” he wrote. “Serving as a police chief is a demanding lifestyle and all too often, family has come second.

“While I love my job, having served as a police chief for 16 years, I look forward to slowing down and truly putting my family first.”

Ramsay also said his 90-year-old father’s health factored into his decision.

“It is sad not to see my parents more during this phase of their lives and I look forward to helping them as they age,” he wrote.

City officials told The Eagle that Ramsay has been open in private about his intentions to leave Wichita. Ramsay applied for the chief job with the Austin Police Department in Texas over the summer but was not selected for the position.

Ramsay’s family moved back to his home state of Minnesota before the start of the school year, he said.

He plans to take a break and allow his wife to dive back into her career in real estate, which she put on hold when they moved to Wichita, he said.

Ramsay said he is weighing a run for St. Louis County Sheriff in Duluth, where he was police chief before getting hired in Wichita.

“That is an exciting prospect for me and that is something that I am considering,” he said. “I have a passion for policing and community. Those two things energize me and I love it, but I need a little break.”

Ramsay’s legacy

Ramsay was named chief of the Wichita Police Department as community activists demanded more transparency and accountability for police.

He was chosen to bring a fresh perspective to a department that had been led for the previous two decades by chiefs who had climbed up the ranks of the Wichita Police Department.

He made a big splash almost immediately.

In his first six months, Ramsay received national attention for his handling of Black Lives Matter protests in amid national unrest over police killings of unarmed Black people. After protests erupted in Wichita, Ramsay channeled those frustrations into a picnic at McAdams Park — “First Steps Community Cookout” — where he fielded questions for nearly an hour.

Videos of police officers dancing with people at the cookout went viral. Ramsay received an invite to the White House (which he had to turn down due to a prior commitment).

Ramsay said one of his proudest accomplishments was diversifying the department.

His deputy chiefs include a Black woman and a Hispanic man. There are more minorities and women in the department now than ever, he said.

“The face of the department has been forever changed,” he said. “I’m really proud of that.”

In 2020, Ramsay again made waves amid unrest. Ramsay was one of the first police officials to call the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police in 2020 a murder.

The officer, Derek Chauvin, was later convicted of murder and sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.

Local officials have celebrated his approach to policing and his outreach efforts, and he formed strong relationships with several activists groups over the years.

But Ramsay also had his fair share of detractors, some within the police community. Several officers have filed state or federal lawsuits against Ramsay and the city for personnel issues.

“You show me a chief in a city this size that doesn’t have lawsuits,” he said. “It just happens. We do risky work, we have over 900 employees.”

Former Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza, who was the department’s spokesperson when Ramsay was hired and left the department shortly afterwards, lashed out at the chief on Twitter on Friday afternoon.

“Yes the day has come,” Espinoza wrote. “Gordon Ramsey (sic) you have damaged the WPD for future years to come. With your narcissistic tendencies and lack of policing skills. You ruled with fear and intimidation(.) Remember, you were a visitor, in our community and a poor one at that.”

Ramsay declined to comment on Espinoza’s statement.

Some of his initiatives have been criticized for not going far enough.

He initiated a Citizen’s Review Board in the aftermath of the killing of Andrew Finch, an unarmed man shot to death on his porch by a Wichita police officer in a “swatting” incident in December 2017.

But the review board has limited access to information provided by the department. Its members cannot take any binding action and are not allowed to publicly discuss the cases they review. The board is allowed to review cases that are not tied up in litigation and only after they have been closed by law enforcement.

Four years after the Finch shooting, the review board has not been allowed to review the incident.

City officials praise Ramsay

City Manager Robert Layton, who hired Ramsay in 2016 after a lengthy search to replace longtime Chief Norman Williams, said he expects a replacement to be named in 2022.

“(Ramsay) made such a significant contribution to the community,” Layton said.

“He did everything that I was hoping he would, and that is to position us to be a 21st century, leading police organization, and one that is using modern methods internally and is connected with the community externally.

“He opened discussions and dialogues with folks who had felt underrepresented before, and whoever comes in behind him will have to build on that legacy.”

The city plans for the search for a new chief to be open and competitive, he said.

“I’ll guarantee you, it’ll be a very public process,” he said. “I probably need to do the same thing we did last time, and that is when we get to finalists, have public forums and allow the public to participate in the process, ask questions of the candidates and get feedback from them at the end of the sessions.”

Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple also praised Ramsay for his work at the city.

“The chief has done an incredible job with community outreach and bringing more people to the table,” Whipple said. “His focus on community policing, I think not only creates relationships but better outcomes.”

This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 12:20 PM.