How can a traffic ticket ruin a life? A traffic ticket for something as simple as a broken headlight or a missing taillight can snowball into a jail sentence in Kansas for low-income people who can’t afford car repairs or fines. And according to some activists and state representatives, it’s more likely to happen to […]
sheriff's office
In his nine-year tenure, Sedgwick County District Attorney has yet to prosecute a police killing
Fifteen men. One woman. No prosecutions. Law enforcement personnel from the Wichita Police Department and Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office have shot and killed 19 people since District Attorney Marc Bennett took office in 2013. Bennett, citing Kansas law, has declined to file charges against officers in 16 of those fatalities. In 15 cases, the officers […]
Wichita police, Sedgwick sheriff’s office closed nearly 500 misconduct complaints in 2021
A clogged toilet. Gossip. A race-based traffic stop. Excessive force. These are some of the nearly 500 complaints the internal affairs bureaus at the Wichita Police Department and Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office closed in 2021. In about a third of the cases, the agencies sustained the complaints, according to an analysis by The Wichita Beacon. Wichita […]