Wichita city manager orders third-party investigation into police text messages

Wichita City Manager Robert Layton has ordered a third-party investigation into the Wichita Police Department’s handling of officers who sent and reacted to racist and inappropriate text messages about shooting people.

Layton was under pressure by the mayor and City Council after a Wichita Eagle investigation found a Wichita Police SWAT team member received little punishment for sending a racist George Floyd meme to another local law enforcement officer.

Mayor Brandon Whipple called the executive session to question Layton over why the council had been left in the dark and why police didn’t notify the district attorney of the racist text message until earlier this month, despite having the evidence for nearly a year.

Wichita police found the text message last April while searching a Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy’s phone. Layton said Tuesday that former Wichita police Chief Gordon Ramsay did not tell him about the text message.

Layton said he didn’t find out until Feb. 25, the day after the Citizen Review Board initially received a briefing on how the Professional Standards Bureau handled the case. Layton could not explain the delay.

“To say that I was disappointed in that would be an understatement,” Layton said.

Whipple, in an interview after the city council meeting, said that is “unacceptable.”

“Is there a stronger word than angry?” he said. “I’m outraged.”

“I’m outraged that he didn’t know, and I was mad at him thinking he knew and didn’t tell me.”

Whipple also said he was disappointed that Ramsay didn’t tell him or Layton about the text messages. “Chief Ramsay never brought this up to me,” he said. “I’m blindsided by this.”

“This will not be just today’s story, and then tomorrow we forget about it. We’re going to address this.”

Interim Chief Lem Moore said he, too, didn’t find out about the text messages until around the time it was taken up by the Citizen Review Board. “We did not have any outgoing conversations (with Ramsay), but I did find out about the same time because it was on everyone’s radar after it was brought up in the CRB.”

Layton blamed Ramsay for leaving him in the dark on the details about the messages and the inconsistent punishment: an officer who sent a photoshopped image of George Floyd with a naked Black man sitting on his head wasn’t suspended but an officer who called Ramsay a tool was.

Ramsay, who left the department March 1, did not respond to a request to comment.

“This was obviously a glitch — that’s not the right term. This was uncharacteristic and not what I expected based on our relationship and what I know of Gordon,” Layton said.

“Obviously, I’m not happy about this incident in that it took me until February to know about it.”

Tuesday was the first time the police department and Layton broke their silence on the issue, after community and elected officials decried the department’s handling of the case. The message and handling of the situation was first reported by The Eagle on Monday. Police had not commented on the case despite repeated requests from The Eagle.

Responding to The Eagle’s story, Mayor Brandon Whipple on Monday night called an executive session the next day to hear from Layton and his involvement in the case. Layton and Whipple spoke to the media after a lengthy closed-door meeting.

Layton has called for an internal investigation by assistant city manager Donte Martin, who will choose an independent third party to lead the probe of the city’s handling of the case and officer discipline.

Layton said he’s usually informed about WPD cases when an officer is terminated or if the case is severe. Layton said the investigation could find gaps in the city’s current system and point to who is responsible.

Messages sent

Wichita police investigators found unsavory messages when they searched the phone of Sgt. Justin Maxfield, a Sedgwick County deputy involved in a domestic violence case.

Eleven Wichita officers and three deputies were investigated because of what was found.

The messages included racist photos (one sent by Wichita officers and others sent by three deputies), homophobic and sexist comments by deputies, and officers from the SWAT team making light of shooting people.

Wichita police Sgt. Jamie Crouch sent the photo to Maxfield, according to a source. Crouch still works for the department, but left the SWAT team over the emotional stress surrounding the incident, interim chief Lem Moore said Tuesday.

Crouch wasn’t suspended.

The department policy he was punished under carried a reprimand up to a three-day penalty on the first offense. A source said a reprimand is usually a piece of paper saying not to do it again.

Crouch sent the “image to lighten the situation and de-stress the SWAT team members,” according to a CRB document obtained by The Eagle.

Moore said a Black friend showed the Floyd photo to Crouch. Crouch then shared the photo with Maxfield, records show.

Three Sedgwick County deputies who sent racist memes are no longer with the department.

This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 2:57 PM.