Former Wichita police captain charged with computer crimes one day after retiring

A 29-year veteran of the Wichita Police Department was charged with eight counts of felony computer crimes on Friday, one day after he retired.

Ex-Capt. Wendell Nicholson, who formerly oversaw the traffic division, was charged Friday. He was not arrested but is under a court order to appear in court in April.

Nicholson declined to comment Friday evening.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said all counts involve sharing confidential “intel” information with two or three people outside of law enforcement who are not suspected to be involved in any of the cases.

“No criminal cases were ever compromised,” Bennett said.

The criminal complaint claims Nicholson knowingly “damaged, modified, altered, destroyed, copied, disclosed or took possession of a computer, computer system, computer network or other property,” including Drug Enforcement Agency daily briefing reports, WPD gang bulletins, internal department morning reports, WPD shooting reviews, WPD emails, body camera videos, a WPD information bulletin and a WPD professional standards bureau document.

Former interim Chief Lem Moore pulled Nicholson off his assignment as the department’s liaison to the Citizens Review Board last April after the board issued a scathing report on the department’s handling of a text messaging scandal last year.

Nicholson is one of ten defendants being sued by Deputy Chief Jose Salcido and former deputy chiefs Chet Pinkston and Wanda Givens, who were on former Chief Gordon Ramsay’s executive team.

The deputy chiefs claimed in a late-February court filing that “Nicholson is believed to have released confidential information about criminal cases in violation of the law and city policy.”

They claimed Nicholson was interviewed for the chief of police position, despite concerns he had shared confidential information. They said he was part of a conspiracy to discredit and remove the deputy chiefs from their positions.

That lawsuit claims City Manager Robert Layton and Assistant City Manager Donte Martin wanted department leaders to give Nicholson “a break” so he could attend FBI training school.

“Layton brought in retired Deputy Chief Troy Livingston to cover up the criminal conduct of Captain Wendell Nicholson,” the lawsuit says. “Despite overwhelming evidence of misconduct by Nicholson, Livingston declared the allegations to be ‘unfounded.’”

The city of Wichita and Wichita Police Department leaders have declined to comment on Nicholson’s charges and the allegations in the deputy chiefs’ lawsuit.

This story was originally published March 24, 2023 at 5:25 PM.