Month: July 2020

State sexual assault criminal investigation into former KCK police officer sent to federal authorities

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has been looking into allegations of sexual violence involving a retired KCK police detective.

Khadijah Hardaway of Grant Chapel AME Church speaks at a press conference Thursday on the steps of the First AME Church in Kansas City, Kansas. “We have been grieving our loved ones who have been lost at the hands of the police department,” she said. (Photo by Peggy Lowe, KCUR, Kansas News Service)

by Peggy Lowe, KCUR, Kansas News Service

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has handed over to federal authorities information from the agency’s own probe into sexual assault allegations against former Kansas City, Kansas, Police Detective Roger Golubski.

The KBI’s investigation was centered on the case of Lamonte McIntyre, who was exonerated in 2017 after witnesses recanted testimony that had helped convict him of two murders. Golubski is accused of framing McIntyre because McIntyre’s mother, Rosie, spurned his sexual advances.

Although KBI hasn’t yet found any violation of Kansas law that falls within the statute of limitations, it has turned over information to federal authorities “for their consideration and possible action,” said KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood.

The revelation comes on a day that a group of state lawmakers and social justice leaders called on KBI for an expanded investigation into allegations of sexual violence by Golubski. In a letter signed by 27 state legislators and 16 social justice and faith organizations, the group pleaded for holding Golubski and the police department accountable.

“These allegations have shown a pattern of abuse toward poor, minority (people of color) residents — specifically the people Golubski and his force were employed by taxpayers to protect,” the letter said.

Golubski, whose alleged activities were said to be an open secret in Wyandotte County for decades, has been accused in lawsuits and in a federal judge’s ruling of the sexual assault of Black women. State Sen. David Haley, a Democrat, wondered why the Unified Government allowed the police for years to create “this seamy underbelly of abuse of people of color.”

After McIntyre was exonerated of a 1994 double murder and released from prison in 2017, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree requested the KBI investigation and handed over the case file. KBI initiated a review of over 6,000 documents and in March 2019, began the criminal investigation against Golubski, Underwood said.

“This criminal investigation focused on sexual assault allegations, and whether Golubski committed crimes related to the 1994 homicides of Doniel Quinn and Donald Ewing, in which Lamonte McIntyre was convicted,” Underwood wrote in an email.

Quinn and Ewing were shot while sitting in a car in Kansas City, Kansas, in what some suspect involved a drug deal. Golubski, who was on the force from 1975 to 2010, when he retired, could not be reached for comment.

The lawmakers, 25 Democrats and two Republicans, along with the social justice leaders, want KBI to look beyond the McIntyre case and expand the probe into all the allegations of how Golubski mistreated women and their families, said state Rep. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat who organized Thursday’s event.

Chester Owens, the first African American city councilman in Kansas City, Kansas, when he was elected in 1983, said he’s been fighting police brutality since then. Now 87 years old, Owens said he’s not afraid to call out the county’s elected officials and ask where they’ve been all these years.

“Sometimes people say silence is golden,” Owens said. “But I say, sometimes speech is golden and silence is criminal.”

Khadijah Hardaway of Grant Chapel AME Church, said the community wants the Unified Government to fund Dupree’s Community Integrity Unit, which was formed out of the McIntyre case. Dupree has said he needs $260,000 to hire three investigators.

Hardaway also said the community needs a bilingual hotline to report police abuse and to have input into the hiring of the next police chief.

“We are sick and tired of waiting,” she said. “We have been grieving our loved ones who have been lost at the hands of the police department.”

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.

Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.

See more at https://www.kcur.org/2020-07-02/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-mask-mandate-in-kansas.

Changes taking place for United Way here

The beginning of July marked a new era and a new name for the United Way in Wyandotte County.

The boards of the United Ways of Greater Kansas City and Wyandotte County voted to merge, and the merger took effect July 1. The organization here now will take on the United Way of Greater Kansas City name.

The Wyandotte County agency is almost 100 years old, having been started in 1921 as the Community Chest of Kansas City, Kansas, according to information from the agency’s website. The organization became the United Community Fund and Council in 1958, merging with the Planning Council. It received its United Way of Wyandotte County charter in 1973.

Todd Jordan was president and CEO of the United Way of Wyandotte County at the time of the merger vote. He said a big part of what led to the merger was a changing environment when it comes to philanthropy in general and what they need to provide to communities.

As they move more toward digital services, it requires investment to keep pace, he said. There were some financial advantages to the merger. There is some redundancy in funding two United Way organizations, including items such as two audits, he noted.

They also serve a community where people traverse a lot of borders, he said.

“Through the merger with United Way of Greater Kansas City, we will have even more resources to serve the interests and challenges faced by our communities – in Wyandotte County and beyond,” he said.

Ultimately, the two boards forged an agreement that reflected the dialogue they held over a number of months, he said.

The United Way of Wyandotte County was a $3 million organization, with workplace campaigns bringing in about $1.8 million, he said. They plan to sustain existing programs via grants and contracts.

Programs here that are operating internally and funded externally to agencies will be maintained, with commitments honored this year, and will be extended another two years, he said. Then they will be synced with the United Way of Greater Kansas City schedule.

In the future, funding will be pooled together for both United Ways, he said. However, there are provisions in place to make geographic equity part of the arrangement, he said. If a campaign in the workplace declines because of COVID-19, for example, there will be no impact on Wyandotte County, he said. If it goes up, there could be additional investment in Wyandotte County.

The local United Way board had reached an agreement to set a floor to maintain what it has now, and as they continue to raise funds over the course of a year, they will be able to leverage resources around the metro area to address the greatest areas of need, which includes Wyandotte County, he said.

The United Way works with a number of programs to assist local residents. It’s likely that more assistance will be needed in the coming year or years, including some assistance for housing or utilities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jordan said they participated in the One KC event, matched by Sunderland and the Hall Foundation, to raise funding for COVID-19 relief efforts. Fundraising had reached $16 million by May, and it will include funds for programs in Wyandotte County.

The local United Way also has worked with the BPU in providing utility assistance through BPU employee fundraisers, and those funds will continue to go to Wyandotte County needs.

Jordan said they would probably be able to leverage dollars from the region to help people in Wyandotte County, with the potential to look at funding that occurs on a much larger scale.

The United Way of Greater Kansas City served five counties before the merger. Brent Stewart, CEO of United Way of Greater Kansas City, is remaining as CEO. He led the organization through a merger in 2008 of four regional United Way agencies.

Jordan, who has a doctorate in public affairs, joined the United Way in 2015 and will remain with the merged agency as chief community engagement officer.

Jordan said all staff members were being offered comparable positions with the newly merged organization. No layoffs were part of the merger agreement, he said.

The local office in Wyandotte County will remain open, he added.

Police notes

Shooting reported on Richmond Avenue

Several occupants inside a residence in the 1600 block of Richmond Avenue heard multiple gunshots from outside at 9:45 p.m. July 1, according to a social media post by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

One of the occupants was struck in the leg and sustained a non-life-threatening injury, the report stated. No one else was injured.

Robbery at gunpoint reported on Farrow Avenue

Two unknown suspects approached victims in a robbery at 11:55 p.m. July 1 in the 2900 block of Farrow Avenue, according to a social media post by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

One of the suspects brandished a firearm while demanding money, according to the report.

The victims fought the suspects, who fled before officers arrived, the report stated. There were no injuries reported.