‘We need answers’: Wichita council to question city manager on handling of police texts

Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple has called for an executive session at Tuesday’s city council meeting to question City Manager Robert Layton over the city’s handling of an internal investigation of inappropriate and racist text messages in a group chat that included officers in the Wichita Police Department.

“We as a council can’t fire any city employees or police officers,” Whipple said. “We have one employee, and that’s the city manager. We need answers.”

The Eagle reported on the text messages Monday and named some of the Wichita officers and Sedgwick County deputies who were in a group chat that included racist memes and messages showing disdain for civilians shot by police.

Wichita police told the Sedgwick County district attorney about the existence of the messages last year but did not specifically mention that an officer had sent a racist meme until earlier this month, one hour after an Eagle reporter asked the interim chief about it.

Sources said Wichita police Sgt. Jamie Crouch sent a message showing a photoshopped image of George Floyd’s murder. It replaced the white officer who had a knee on Floyd’s neck with an image of a naked Black man sitting on his head.

The district attorney is required by federal law to disclose evidence that an officer in a case is biased toward a group of people. Such evidence could affect the outcome of cases handled by that officer.

“I have requested an executive session tomorrow to create the space in which the council can ask direct questions to the city manager and figure out exactly what he knows when it comes to what’s going on,” Whipple told The Eagle on Monday. “And we don’t have former police Chief (Gordon) Ramsay here.

“Bob (Layton) was Ramsay’s boss, so what was going on? Why are we just hearing about this now?”

Whipple said he and his council colleagues did not receive any information on the case from Layton, former Chief Gordon Ramsay or interim Chief Lem Moore — and he didn’t know about it until he was asked by reporters.

“It puts the safety of our city at risk,” Whipple said. “The district attorney mentioned that he now can’t prosecute cases because these officers won’t be legitimate witnesses on the stand.”

“This jeopardizes the legal process, and now we have people who could have been found guilty and taken off the streets or given the help they need, won’t be. Those cases will be tossed out.”

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said he has not determined whether or how many Wichita police cases are in jeopardy.

Bennett told The Eagle that Sheriff Jeff Easter almost immediately turned over the names of three county deputies who had sent racist memes, as is required under federal law. Attorneys in up to three pending murder cases have been notified of the deputies’ conduct. Bennett has also dismissed roughly 50 traffic tickets and about 10 nonviolent criminal cases because of the deputies’ involvement.

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. The 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 chief Ramsay, calling him “a tool.”

A text from a deputy praised his peers on the SWAT team for being the “ultimate de-escalators” who “permanently deescalated people who needed permanent de-escalation.” The officer who sent the Floyd meme, the deputy who sent the “de-escalation” message and three Wichita officers who liked, loved or commented on that message have been involved in shootings or killings of civilians. One was involved in fatally gunning down a man after he ran from an Old Town club in 2012. The city later paid a $900,000 settlement to the man’s family, records show.

“I’m very concerned and the council needs to look into this,” Whipple said Monday night. “The first step is the city manager. The city manager is the head of all the employees. We need to figure out what’s going on, and let’s talk about policies to fix it. Let’s change the system so that there’s more transparency. People leak information when they feel like there isn’t a legitimate means to be heard.”

Layton, through a spokesperson, has declined to comment on the situation until Tuesday.

“We’re going to ask the stuff that isn’t public, and we don’t want to jeopardize anything ongoing. I want him to be able to shoot us straight,” Whipple said. “We won’t make any policy decisions or take any binding action until we’re out of executive session.

“I did talk to Bob (Layton). I gave him a heads up. I don’t want him to feel ambushed. . . . He’s glad he got the heads up, and he’s a professional. He welcomes the executive session.”

Asked if Layton’s job is on the line, Whipple said it depends on what explanation Layton can provide on the city’s handling of the text message controversy.

“Then it’s up to the council,” Whipple said. “I don’t count votes, but, frankly, this is a very serious situation.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 9:32 PM.