National and state police unions call on Wichita mayor to apologize or resign

National and state police unions called on Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple to apologize or resign after he criticized a police officer who he said did not activate a body camera while yelling at him and blocking him from entering a city-sponsored neighborhood cleanup.

In response, Whipple said he publicly apologized Monday on a radio show and offered another apology.

“I apologize again for my role in this entire situation because I should be better,” Whipple said. “I should have been in better control of myself, regardless of what was happening.”

The National Fraternal Order of Police blasted Whipple in a Monday tweet and accused him of seeking preferential treatment when he called City Manager Robert Layton to report that the officer “went nuts” on him and would not let him in the Sept. 24 event.

The national FOP, which says it has more than 364,000 members, shared video of the encounter, calling it a “behind the scenes view of the preferential treatment (some) politicians in charge seek for themselves.”

Joe Gamaldi, vice president of the national police union, followed up with another tweet addressed to Whipple, asking whether the mayor had apologized to the officer and community.

“Pretty low to show up (to an) event you weren’t authorized to be at, then demand preferential treatment and talk down to an officer,” Gamaldi wrote. “If this is how you treat people, time to resign pal.”

The Kansas State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police, whose president is Lt. Casey Slaughter of the Wichita Police Department, issued a statement on Tuesday condemning Whipple’s actions during the interaction and in response to criticism after body camera video of the encounter was publicly released.

“Not only was there no apology offered to Brother Vogt, Mayor Whipple’s political allies immediately engaged social media in an attempt to publicly impugn and discredit Brother Vogt,” the Kansas FOP statement said. “This further demonstrates our belief that Mayor Whipple understood what he did was completely improper and that he handled the situation inappropriately.”

“Mayor Whipple should offer a public apology to Brother Vogt and the members of the Wichita Police Department and accept full responsibility for his actions,” the statement continues. “If Mayor Whipple is unable to do this, he must immediately resign as Mayor of Wichita.”

It’s the latest backlash to body camera footage that showed Whipple complaining about a Wichita police officer to City Manager Robert Layton while the officer was checking his driver’s license.

Officer Atlee Vogt, who stopped Whipple and recorded the incident, has declined to comment. The Wichita Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement last week in response that said Whipple released the video to deflect attention away from himself.

“We find it offensive that Mayor Whipple would attempt to deflect attention from his own inappropriate conduct by personally attacking the Officer with these false and over exaggerated accusations,” the Wichita FOP statement said.

Whipple said he thinks pressure from the police unions is politically motivated.

“This feels like a political hit coming down from the national, state, everything,” Whipple said. “It’s just interesting to add my name to the list of people being asked to resign by police. I believe it now includes me, the city manager, the head of human resources and City Council member (Bryan Frye).”

Three Wichita police deputy chiefs — two current and one former — called on Layton, Human Resources Director Chris Bezruki and Bryan Frye to resign last month in response to a city report that criticized two of the deputy chiefs — Chester Pinkston and Jose Salcido — and former Chief Gordon Ramsay for their handling of an internal investigation into racist text messages sent by members of the SWAT team. The city report called for an outside investigation of the Wichita Police Department’s culture. Frye’s name was added to the list after he called the deputy chiefs’ threat to sue “extortion.”

Whipple also recently announced a mayor-appointed task force to investigate problems within the department.

“It seems that someone is asked to resign every time we begin some type of investigative process, so I’m not really surprised,” Whipple said. “But maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

He said the task force is still planned, although City Council member Jeff Blubaugh resigned without explanation during Tuesday’s meeting.

Afterwards, Blubaugh told The Eagle that Whipple has demonstrated anti-police bias and is no longer fit to take the lead on enhancing department oversight.

“What’s most disappointing to me is how the mayor has reacted to this on social media,” Blubaugh said. “How some of his paid campaign people have went out there and said derogatory things about this police officer and not taken accountability.”

Politics aside, Whipple said he regrets the interaction with Vogt.

“If I could do it again, I never would have been there,” Whipple told The Eagle. “It was a bad moment. It was a bad day, and so I apologize for embarrassing myself and . . . now, I feel bad for the officer because I don’t think he wants this type of attention either.”

Whipple’s latest comments contrast with statements he made last week when he released the body camera video to The Eagle, which included criticism of the officer for yelling at him, not activating the body camera quickly enough and then interviewing witnesses in what could have been his own internal investigation.

In the body camera video, Whipple complained to Layton that Vogt had yelled at him and would not let him into the Southwest Neighborhood Association’s free cleanup after he turned into the wrong entrance. Whipple does not live in the neighborhood but said he wanted to drop off items from his rental property, which is in the neighborhood, to clear out the home for his mother to move in.

Whipple said Vogt yelled at him and, when he tried to ask how he could get in line, told him he was not welcome at the event. Whipple ultimately dropped his complaint against Vogt after talking to former interim Chief Lem Moore.

“I left the situation thinking the officer and I were on good terms,” Whipple said Tuesday. “I chalked it up to a misunderstanding.”

The situation escalated last week after Whipple saw body camera video of the exchange with Vogt. He said he chose to release it himself so he could provide context that wasn’t captured on video.

Whipple said he does not retract his previous statements.

“I’m not interested in making excuses for myself,” Whipple said. “I do think in that situation, my experience was what I’ve discussed earlier. However, I am responsible for my own actions, and I think the calls that the National FOP and them is based off of that reaction when I called the city manager and that moment, yeah, I wish I had handled that better.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 3:22 PM.