‘Slap in the face’: Officials react to racist messages between Wichita-area officers

Wichita-area elected officials reacted with disgust, anger and disappointment Monday to the findings of an Eagle investigation into racist and insensitive messages exchanged between a small group of Wichita-area law enforcement officers.

Wichita Police Department officials uncovered the text messages in April 2021 while investigating Sgt. Justin Maxfield, a Sedgwick County Deputy involved in a domestic violence case. But Wichita police did not tell the Sedgwick County district attorney about a racist meme sent by a Wichita officer until last month, an hour after an Eagle reporter first asked about the case.

“I’m still processing,” Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell said. “This story exposes things about certain officers that none of us want to believe could be the way that it is. I am very disappointed that this type of blatant racism is tolerated in part of our government.”

The racist memes and praise for SWAT team members who “permanently deescalated people who needed permanent de-escalation” were shared in a private group chat between a handful of Wichita police officers and Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputies.

The Wichita Eagle obtained copies of some of the text messages from sources.

“Before this story and before the Cedric Lofton case, I would have said that there are very few police officers that would be like this,” Howell said. “But I’m beginning to wonder. It really, really bothers me that there seems to be such collusion for doing wrong.”

In one text message, Wichita police Sgt. Jamie Crouch sent a photoshopped meme sexually degrading George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. The white police officer who murdered Floyd by kneeling on his neck is replaced in the photo by a naked Black man sitting on Floyd’s head.

Eleven Wichita police officers and at least three Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputies were the subject of internal investigations into their text messages. The deputies who sent racist memes are no longer employed by the county. One police officer who sent a racist meme still works for the city. The only officer who was suspended apparently did not send racist texts but was critical of former Wichita Police Chief Gordon Ramsay, calling him “a tool.”

Howell praised the county’s handling of the situation and criticized the city’s handling of its officers.

“The fact of the matter is we see, between Wichita and Sedgwick County, the county made it very clear these three officers were not going to stay on our force here. And that is the right way to handle that. For some reason, Wichita did not take care of their situation the way they should have. Those officers should not be on their force, period.”

Internal police investigations are usually kept secret. But The Eagle obtained the text messages and names of the officers involved from sources familiar with the cases. The Eagle is not naming those sources to protect them from retaliation.

Wichita police and the city manager’s office have chosen to remain silent.

Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said he was “really troubled” by the report. But he said he has been instructed by city staff not to comment on the cases because “there is an ongoing investigation.”

It’s unclear what investigation is ongoing. The Citizens Review Board, which is reviewing the cases behind closed doors without the identities of the officers, is allowed to review internal police disciplinary cases only after all investigations have been concluded.

Whipple declined to comment on whether the Wichita police officers who participated in the text message exchange should remain employees of the city.

“I can’t do the city manager’s job,” Whipple said, pointing to a city ordinance that prohibits elected officials from interfering in the hiring and firing of city staff.

“I think that question is better for the city manager — did you do enough — because he’s the one who actually understands and knows what the details are,” Whipple said.

Layton has not responded to requests to comment on the text messages and officer discipline. Nor has the interim police chief, former Chief Gordon Ramsay, who stepped down March 1 and is running for sheriff in Minnesota, or the department’s three-person public information unit.

Whipple said the lack of response from Layton and the Wichita police department is “absolutely not acceptable.”

“When it comes to getting information that’s for the public good out there, we should be able to get that information out as it’s readily available,” Whipple said.

Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson, also the chair of the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers, said law enforcement has to earn back the trust of the communities they’re charged with serving.

“Any time something like this comes out, it’s just another strike for those in the community that have continued to talk about the challenges or concerns with law enforcement,” Johnson said.

“It feels like a slap in the face to many people who probably felt like we might be going in the right direction and then we see something like this come out.”

Community outrage

Elected officials weren’t the only ones outraged by the troubling text messages between local law enforcement officers who have been involved in shootings and killings of civilians.

Mary Dean, a community activist for more than 40 years, said a federal investigation is needed.

“What you printed today, we’ve been knowing it for years,” Dean said. “But we can’t get people to take it serious, to do an investigation on this corrupt system.”

“They don’t want changes here,” Dean said. “Unless an outside agency comes in here, like the Department of Justice or someone like that comes in here and does an independent investigation of this corrupt system, it’s going to continue the way it has for years.”

Lawyer Benjamin A. Stelter-Embry represented the parents of Marquez Smart, a 23-year-old Black man who was shot in the back and killed by Wichita police officers — including one of the officers in the text message group chat — in 2012. Smart’s family was awarded a $900,000 settlement with the city of Wichita over the case.

“This is not just a one-off event. I’m sure that there’s a lot of this going on within the department,” Stelter-Embry said.

“The city’s got to conduct a widespread investigation, root out all those officers who were involved in this racist exchange,” Stelter-Embry said. “A slap on the wrist or a suspension or an asterisk on their disciplinary record is just not going to do it.”

“They’ve got to show that they’re taking this stuff seriously and really implement some diversity, equity and inclusion measures within recruiting, within training. Otherwise, this is just going to keep happening over and over and over again.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 6:24 PM.