Current, former deputy police chiefs file lawsuit against Wichita, city officials
Two former and one current Wichita police deputy chief have sued the city, accusing city officials, other officers and the police union of corruption, lying, retaliation, defamation and discrimination against them.
The federal lawsuit seeks a jury trial and judgment of $2.4 million and says the city violated numerous laws, including their First Amendment rights.
The 41-page complaint is a continuation of a letter they sent to the city in September threatening a lawsuit. The letter — which also asked for the resignation of City Manager Robert Layton — was required before a lawsuit could be filed. The city denied the requests made in the letter in October, the suit says.
Deputy Chief Jose Salcido and former deputy chiefs Chester Pinkston and Wanda Givens did not respond to a request to comment on the lawsuit. James Thompson, their lawyer, declined to comment, citing concerns about discussing the case in a story by an Eagle reporter he said he may attempt to call as a witness.
Former Chief Gordon Ramsay, who was involved in the threat letter but was not listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, also did not respond to a request to comment.
The city, which typically doesn’t comment on pending litigation, did respond.
In an email, spokesperson Megan Lovely said the city “looks forward to vigorously defending its reputation in a court of law and providing evidence and witnesses that will counter the narrative” and that they’ve “never before had such egregiously false accusations made against the City.”
The lawsuit comes after an internal city committee blamed Ramsay, Salcido and Pinkston for mishandling the investigation and discipline after Wichita officers sent racist and other inappropriate text messages.
The lawsuit goes into more detail about a reported back-and-forth feud between the department’s top brass and former human resources director Chris Bezruki, who retired in December.
The lawsuit alleges Bezruki overturned discipline decisions, started rumors and pushed the agenda of the police union that had wined and dined him. Bezruki, who is in his mid-60s, had been planning to retire for years before the allegations were made against him, the city has said.
Layton, the lawsuit says, allowed it to happen despite concerns from Ramsay and his administration.
Layton has called the allegations against him and Bezruki outrageous.
Wichita city manager won’t resign, calls police leaders’ allegations ‘outrageous’
The lawsuit paints Ramsay and his executive staff as a group that tried to weed out corruption and wrongdoing at City Hall, only to be stymied by Layton and Bezruki.
Bezruki and defendants former deputy chief Troy Livingston (who had a stint last year as interim chief), current captain Wendell Nicholson, former captain Kevin Kochenderfer, Wichita City Council member Bryan Frye and union officials David Inkelaar and Paul Zamorano all “worked together to discredit and remove plaintiffs” from their roles as deputy chiefs, the suit alleges.
Frye was named in the suit because he said during a City Council meeting that Salcido and Pinkston, who at the time still worked for the department, were trying to extort the city and should resign.
The union couldn’t be reached for comment, but has denounced the accusations in the past.
Livingston and Nicholson declined to comment. Kochenderfer declined to comment before reading the lawsuit.
The letter threatening a lawsuit came after a March 2022 Eagle investigation showed light discipline had been given to officers who sent racist, extremist and insensitive text messages.
The messages include a photoshopped image of a naked Black man sitting on the head of George Floyd, an officer affiliating with the extremist group the “Three Percenters” and officers in a text thread talking casually about shooting and killing people. The only officer originally suspended was Kochenderfer, who had called Ramsay a tool in a text message.
Following public outcry from the story, the city reopened the case. Four officers have since been suspended, and the number involved in the text messages has risen to 14.
Contributing: Chance Swaim of The Eagle
