KCK’s Garner promised to ask feds to investigate police corruption. When’s the flight to DC, Mayor?

Tyrone Garner sat in front of us last summer and promised, if elected mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, to tackle police corruption.

Garner said he would go to the nation’s capital and ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate years of alleged corruption within the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department. He repeated similar remarks on the campaign trail. “We need to have outside eyes,” he said then.

Last week, Garner sounded nothing like he did when he ran for mayor.

In a written statement, Garner, the first Black mayor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, backed away from one of his main campaign promises.

“As Mayor, I stand by my commitment to support and welcome any independent outside investigations from authorities into any allegations of criminal misconduct, by anyone within the Unified Government in the past and presently,” he wrote.

That is disappointing.

An independent investigation is not the same as demanding the DOJ conduct a top-to-bottom audit of the police department. The people of Wyandotte County and victims of police brutality deserve better.

Leaders with the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, or More2, and Team Roc, a social justice group tied to rapper Jay Z, have repeatedly called for a DOJ-led inquiry into the decades-long allegations of discriminatory, violent and criminal behavior exhibited by police. What’s keeping Garner, a retired police veteran with 32 years of experience with the KCKPD, from doing the same?

To be fair, Garner is in a mostly untenable position. But he has to be a man of his word. It would be irresponsible for him “to discuss any matters that may compromise or politicize the integrity of any law enforcement matters of interest,” he wrote, adding he will not publicly or privately discuss any local law enforcement matters.

“I will intentionally seek and refer all inquiries into all matters of a law enforcement interest to the appropriate criminal justice authorities for discussion, clarity, direction, and disposition,” the statement continued.

For the past month, More2 has sent Garner subtle reminders of his campaign promise. But it shouldn’t take telegrams from singing clowns and St. Patrick Day-themed parades around Wyandotte County buildings for Garner to do what he said he would do.

Kansas City, Kansas, residents say the city’s cops have framed innocent people and committed other abhorrent acts. Recently, Lamonte McIntyre filed suit against the Unified Government for nearly $94 million for a wrongful conviction that landed him behind bars for 23 years. His suit alleges that he was framed by Roger Golubksi, a retired KCK detective. Golubski is under a federal grand jury investigation.

But he isn’t the only KCK law enforcement officer with a questionable past — more reason to want the DOJ to investigate the department’s practices and patterns of misconduct.

On Thursday, Wyandotte County Commissioner Andrew Davis pushed back against Garner’s proposed budget recommendations for the 2023 fiscal year. The mayor wants a mill levy decrease that could put the county in a tough spot financially, Davis and other commissioners said during a special meeting to discuss a vision for the county’s future. Garner would also like to place a sales tax initiative on the ballot in August. Asking residents for additional tax revenue this soon after a global health emergency is not practical.

Davis called Thursday’s presentation a waste of time. Garner assured the 11-member Wyandotte County Board of Commissioners that the recommendations were only a conversation starter. Davis, who represents District 8, chastised Garner for rushing through the process without working with the commission and scolded him for not being available to the public.

Davis could have been speaking for many of us.

“Mayor, if you want to be successful, I need you to come to the table willing to compromise,” Davis said. “Willing to answer your phone, willing to answer emails and willing to work with us.”

The first 100 days of Garner’s first term in office has passed, and we’re still waiting for him to book a flight to the nation’s capital. And return calls.