Three Wichita police officers have been suspended after they exchanged inappropriate messages with several other law enforcement officials, according to city officials.
City Manager Robert Layton ordered that the officers be suspended for 15 days, rejecting interim police chief Lemuel Moore's planned eight-day suspensions as too little.
Layton said the officers will need to undergo psychological exams when they return before they can be moved from desk work to regular duties.
“The argument that this was a private conversation is superseded by the fact that the public had obtained the conversation and it was no longer private to the individuals involved,” Moore said Thursday.
A city report issued in April criticized department leaders for not adequately disciplining police involved in the messages and mishandling their investigation of the incidents.
Investigators in Kansas found 13 Wichita police officers, three Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputies and two city firefighters sent and received inappropriate text messages.
The employees suspended Thursday include an officer who sent a George Floyd meme to another officer who forwarded the meme to a deputy; and another officer who expressed support with the “Three Percenters,” an alleged anti-government militia group.
Two other officers received written reprimands and must undergo sensitivity training within 45 days. They were in a text thread where SWAT team members joked about killing civilians and being “the ultimate de-escalators.”
Three other officers resigned from the department during the investigation.
The City is also seeking an outside professional firm to evaluate the department, and should have one selected in the next few weeks.