Wichita police union files to overturn suspensions for officers who sent racist meme

The Wichita Fraternal Order of Police wants the city to discipline any officers who may have leaked to The Eagle confidential information concerning offensive text messages — but not the officers who sent each other racist and other inappropriate messages, records show.

The police union is trying to overturn disciplinary decisions for five officers who were suspended or reprimanded in July for sending offensive text messages. It also filed a formal grievance asking the city to discipline any officers who leaked confidential records.

FOP officials declined an interview. They would not say whether the union condones or defends the text messages, which included racist, sexist and homophobic texts, associations with an anti-government militia group and disdain for people shot by police. The messages included a racist and sexually degrading meme that photoshopped a naked Black man over the officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck.

“The union cannot comment on specifics on open grievances,” Officer Jeremy Diaz, a spokesperson for the FOP, said in response to a written question about the messages. “However by law the FOP has a duty to fair representation.”

Former Chief Gordon Ramsay and deputy chiefs Jose Salcido and Chester Pinkston chose not to discipline the officers in 2021 when the messages — sent and received by SWAT team members — were discovered. The only officer originally suspended was an officer who called Ramsay a “tool.”

Following an internal investigation, the other officers received a written reprimand, nondisciplinary “coaching and mentoring” or nothing. At least 13 Wichita police officers were investigated.

Police leaders also failed to disclose the troubling text messages to prosecutors, The Eagle found. Federal law requires attorneys to disclose any evidence of police bias to anyone accused or convicted of a crime.

After The Eagle reported on the lack of discipline and text messages in March, the city reopened its investigation and ordered the officers to be disciplined.

City Manager Robert Layton suspended three officers for 15 days:

▪ Donielle Watson, a Black officer who sent the George Floyd meme during the racial justice protests of 2020.

▪ Jamie Crouch, a white officer who forwarded it to other members of the SWAT team

▪ Chad Spain, a white officer who identified with the “Three Percenters,” an anti-government militia group connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol

Two other officers received written reprimands and were ordered to take sensitivity training. They were in a text thread where SWAT team members talked about killing civilians and being “the ultimate de-escalators.”

All five grievances are pending.

In addition, the police union filed a grievance asking the city to retrieve confidential records “from any unauthorized person who is in possession of it” using “all legal means necessary.”

Union President Dave Inkelaar, a Wichita police officer, later clarified that he was not calling on the city to seize documents from Eagle reporters.

Layton said such a demand would be an “egregious break” from city policy and practice.

“We do not go after journalists who have information that’s been provided to them,” Layton said. “That is not the policy of this office and should not be the policy of my staff. I consider that to be protected information for journalists.”

The grievance is pending a resolution before the Kansas Public Employee Relations Board.

Brief summaries of the FOP grievances became public for the first time Tuesday, part of a partial list of police union grievances provided by city staff to the Wichita City Council. The Eagle requested the same records in August through the Kansas Open Records Act, but the city’s legal department refused to provide the records, citing concerns about protecting officers’ reputations.

The Fraternal Order of Police has been caught up in controversy surrounding the police department. Three deputy chiefs, including one who retired, have accused the union of interfering in internal investigations and wielding undue influence over officer discipline, which the union denies. It has also publicly quarreled with Mayor Brandon Whipple in recent weeks after he accused an officer of yelling at him and failing to activate his body camera.

The City Council has taken an increasingly active role in reviewing the police department after a committee report cited concerns that the Fraternal Order of Police has been allowed to influence discipline recommendations before they are handed down. The city hired consultant Jensen Hughes to investigate the breadth and depth of bias within the department and the relationship between the police union and internal investigations and discipline.

The records provided by the human resources department to the City Council, and obtained by The Eagle, show the FOP has filed at least 70 grievances since 2013, half of those since 2020. Less than half — 30 of the 70 grievances — have a description of the disciplinary action being challenged and details on the outcome.

Of those 30, several outcomes are unclear. One is listed as “NA.” Six say “Settled” or “Resolution reached” but don’t say what the settlement or resolution was. Seventeen grievances were denied and one was sustained. The officers’ names are not included in the spreadsheet.

The city was unable to find records in 40 of the grievance cases, according to Andrew Hudspeth, human resources specialist and employee relations officer for the city.

Hudspeth told the City Council on Tuesday that the city does not have a “standardized process for grievance record retention.”

“I am unable to recover all of the details regarding every grievance that has been filed and reached my level,” Hudspeth said. “Therefore, I could not provide even an inclusive list for you guys because it would have been even more inconsistent from the standpoint of what information we were able to provide.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 7:56 PM.