The fight for integrity: WyCo DA Mark Dupree talks CIU, race and moving forward
When I arrived in the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office, prosecutors openly passed around a “hangman’s noose award” whenever they received a “hung jury” in a trial. This practice made light of the horrors of lynchings so I ended it. I then instituted implicit bias training for the entire office.
I share this anecdote to emphasize a larger point: Systemic change isn’t instant. It takes time.
You likely have heard that I fired three employees recently in the Community Integrity Unit or CIU because they did not live up to standards set in my office. The Star has portrayed this as a failure, but I offer it as proof that I am willing to root out corruption wherever I find it, even in a unit that I’ve fought so hard to bring into existence. The CIU is here to stay.
When we learned the employees’ character didn’t align with the higher calling a prosecutor’s office must uphold, we took the following steps:
1. Immediate termination of the employees- before the recordings hit the press.
2. Officewide meetings and conversations reiterating the expectations of staff and attorneys in this office.
3. Independent review of cases handled by the terminated individuals.
4. Additional implicit bias re-training of all staff and attorneys in the office.
5. Culturally competent scenarios and questions added to the interview process.
The Community Integrity Unit is the first of its kind in the Midwest and was born from the wrongful conviction of Lamonte McIntyre, who spent 23 years in prison. The unit reviews credible instances of actual innocence and manifest injustice committed against incarcerated individuals.
After this nation witnessed George Floyd’s murder, we learned the convicted murderer, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, had been the subject of more than a dozen excessive force complaints. That department, however, failed to hold Chauvin accountable. This remains all too common.
It wasn’t lost on me that when I introduced the Conviction Integrity Unit concept, top law enforcement officials and unions asked the Kansas attorney general to forbid the Wyandotte County DA from investigating wrongful convictions. When people in authority protest accountability for past actions, it should concern us.
Instead, The Star Editorial Board investigated me, writing two lengthy pieces and publishing them about a week before the election.
Those pieces were flawed. I won my reelection by about 10 points.
I’ve fought to change the police misconduct complaint system. The CIU now receives and reviews police misconduct complaints.
In the past, the police department investigated its own in officer-involved shootings. We’ve changed that through years of work. We are reimagining how we prosecute cases, treat victims, engage the communities we serve and correct yesterday’s mistakes. I am committed to creating a workplace culture free of homophobia, sexism, and bigotry.
But this is transformational work. We have traditionally disenfranchised people who do not trust our justice system as well as people and institutions actively frustrating reform efforts.
The secret recordings of former members of the CIU using discriminatory and demeaning language were shocking and disappointing. They delayed our reform work. But that’s all those recordings accomplished — delays. We won’t allow personnel issues to distract us. The firings demonstrate our commitment to integrity.
If given the choice between loyalty and integrity, we will choose integrity every single time.
Mark Dupree is Wyandotte County District Attorney.
