Kansas City Cops Face Charges, Accountability Questions

0:00Kansas City, Kansas Police, are dealing with a wave of criminal charges against their own officers. Last week, District Attorney Mark DePree hit officer Eric Evans with drug charges on April 23rd. Before that, officer Jordan Breone's got charged with sexual battery back in October for allegedly assaulting another cop in a locker room. In Sergeant Jonathan Westbrook, face charges in January for accessing criminal history records without a good reason. The department's chief, Carl Oakman, says internal affairs looked into Breone's and Westbrook's cases. Westbrook's now on admin duties, Breone's is on unpaid leave. Once courts wrap up, they'll review for policy breaks, which could mean firing and losing their badges through the state commission. Folks are pointing fingers at a bigger accountability problem in the department. This comes after scandals with ex-detective Roger Golubsky and advocates like Lauren Bond's from the National Police Accountability Project say, Transparency is still lacking. They argue it shows a culture where misconduct slides too easy.

1:02Prosecutors want to bring up a prior similar incident against Breone's at his pre-trial on June 24th, with jury trial June 29th. Westbrook's back in court June 9th, but details are scarce since the department block records requests. Meanwhile, two more sergeants face DUI charges this year, but are still working, once the union president. As these cases play out, I stay glued on whether Kansas City, Kansas cops can clean up their act for real. That wraps Kansas News today, brought to you with AI.