Police Chief Sara Morris retires
University Police Chief Sara Morris will retire Sept. 29, Wichita State announced Friday morning.
Morris is taking ten days off beginning Sept. 1, the day her retirement was announced. UPD Captain Guy Schroeder is filling in for Morris until she returns Sept. 11.
Other members of the university police department said they were informed of her plans to retire Aug. 31.
“She was just ready to retire,” Schroeder said of Morris. “She’s just got a lot on her plate. She’s ready to move on.”
Morris could not be reached for comment.
Morris was the first female police chief to serve at a Kansas Board of Regents school.
Morris became police chief in 2013 after former police chief Paul Dotson retired from the position.
Morris served as a captain in the university police department for eight years before being promoted to police chief. Prior to that, she spent 20 years with the Wichita Police Department, where she was the first female robbery/homicide detective, and the first officer promoted directly to homicide.
“She’s got a lot of things on her plate,” Schroeder said. “We all do these days, it seems like.”
Jenna Farhat was the news editor of The Sunflower. Farhat majored in creative writing.
Mason • Oct 5, 2017 at 8:56 am
First off, yes the command staff, detectives, lieutenants , sergeants , corporals, and the left over bad apple officers need canned. Bring back the good officers that were forced out or left to other departments. Or how about just having security officers and let the new police station on campus with the wichita PD take over? They have a good chief and can do the job TAXES ALREADY PAY
I kind of agree • Oct 5, 2017 at 2:49 pm
I agree with you. I will reserve my applause when you bring up Gordon Ramsay who is a complete scumbag moron. And the Wichita police are also the worst. And Wichita State University trains every single one of these peons. But other than that I agree with you.
Sure • Oct 5, 2017 at 6:35 pm
Ok Joseph Shepard we get it, you hate white people.
David • Oct 4, 2017 at 4:54 pm
I have to ask, is it bad that I have no sympathy for Sara getting shit-canned for being inadequate as a leader? Other than that, hopefully her bumbling idiots of Herl, Schroeder and Garwood will be next on the chopping block.
For the best • Oct 4, 2017 at 5:36 pm
I totally agree. It’s better for everyone that she leaves. It should have happened long ago. As things come to surface hopefully they will go too. Dennis Rider also needs to put in his 2 weeks.
Human Resources • Sep 25, 2017 at 9:34 pm
So are you saying that the Director of Human Resources isn’t doing her job?
HR incompetence • Sep 25, 2017 at 11:45 pm
The Human Resources department is the worst. Does anyone realize that they are the reason horrible people in administration etc etc etc are not getting fired? If you want to talk about corrupt…we can go there…
Maybe • Sep 26, 2017 at 10:46 am
It was really Matt Johnston who was corrupt in that department, when complaints were made to him. He slide everything under the rug, I guess that’s what you do when you’re friends with Sara.
Nope • Sep 26, 2017 at 10:19 pm
Not hardly. Just the opposite with Matt Johnston
HR incompetence • Sep 26, 2017 at 11:22 pm
That’s funny, I was talking about Matt Johnston. Did he get fired yet? He is the worst. How would he get fired, actually? Wouldn’t he have to fire himself? I am actually curious now.
Bill from IT • Sep 27, 2017 at 8:11 am
Matt is a lazy prick
Darrell • Sep 27, 2017 at 10:48 am
I don’t think Matt is corrupt, I think he should have been a lot more impartial and open minded in his dealings with personal issues in the UPD. When you have a department the size of the UPD and you have a 60-70% turnover rate in a 3 year period it should raise some concern in human resources. Several issues concerning ethical and improper behavior by the chief and her command staff have been raised and pointed out but none of these issues were ever addressed and the cycle just continued.
Garrison Wimbley • Sep 25, 2017 at 3:05 pm
So let me get this straight, all the Officers who are left are corrupt and under a corrupt regime? Maybe bring back the Officers that had been forced out of their jobs? Serious accusations are being tossed around and it seems nothings being investigated? Throwing weapons across a room???? What if I was jogging and was struck by a bullet?? Criminal backgrounds? WTF people…
Jill • Sep 25, 2017 at 9:35 am
Sgt Garwood basically ran off 10 or so really good officers and the Administration did nothing about it. The officers were labeled has being trouble makers or that they simply wanted to advance in their career. No, the officers were forced out and the administration did nothing, but protect Sgt Garwood. Once again, if you were friends with the chief, you were protected, promoted, or placed in positions that the person was not qualified for. More supervisors of the police department need to be fired, other than the chief. Jill
GunOil Garwoody • Sep 20, 2017 at 9:46 pm
I was cornered in the basement when el diablo gordo se llama Garwood was shaving his badly tattooed arms with his long knife (compensating?). The next day, he threw a gun halfway across the room in his usual moody way. El capitan Herl shops for underwear at the Towne East Mall Victoria Secret for his wife while he’s on duty. El jefe Morris can’t even show up to work because she’s busy driving an unmarked police vehicle crammed full of alpacas to and from the vet. The Captains and Chief get paid more than professors and work maybe 5 hours a week total. All of this corruption is paid for by increased tuition and your tax dollars. I guess the university prefers to spend money on gas for the supervisors cars rather than buying plastic spoons….que lastima!
Annie Alpaca • Sep 20, 2017 at 7:44 pm
RETIRE MY ASS….She was fired and fired for good reason, the only question is why the hell are the 2 captains still employed. Since she became Chief over a dozen good officers have been fired or quit, they were bullied and intimidated by her and her captains. The harassment didn’t end when their employment at WSUPD ended either, the officers and their new employers were contacted by the chief and her staff who attempted to smear the integrity of these officers.
Britney • Sep 20, 2017 at 10:00 am
I was told by a certain disgruntled individual that I needed to read these comments. All of this is disturbing to say the least. I must chime in because I’m aquatinted with someone who knows a certain individual that was let’s just say intimately involved with one of the officers, or I think he’s a supervisor. I think his name is Chad or Braydon, maybe Bradford or Brad or Rad. Anyway, apparently this dude had a protection from stalking order against him from this certain individual. I guess he would sneak in her house and take stuff, but I’m not sure if it was his or her stuff. I was told that he would continually follow and watch her. The thing is, HE IS MARRIED! The mere fact that he would lie and hide his extracurricular activities from his wife is appalling. If I found out that my guy was messing around with other women I would make sure that his moments of deceit were constantly haunting him for the rest of his life. I’m fairly certain that no one, whether it was a business or a police department would hire someone with that on their record. Especially someone who has to respond to stuff like that. Has anyone looked into this? Surely the Wichita state police knew about it. I think anyone can access those police or court records too. Just a thought 😉
AlmaFuerte • Sep 19, 2017 at 7:18 pm
An EEOC complaint was filed on September 31, 2017 against the WSU PD. To my knowledge, a WSU PD Seargeant did the right thing when confronted with a morally questionable situation involving another officer and they tried to fire him for it.
Kevin • Sep 19, 2017 at 5:44 pm
Wow that’s odd.
I just looked at all these posts. I’ve actually heard the Chief inside the Captain’s Office.
Turns it it was not a normal conversation. From my hearing I think it was a little bang bang going on.
Captain, Chief, and Garwood hang out with each other at the Chief’s house.
WSU HR and President why do you have job posting every month at the PD?
There is also an officer named Turene who sends his official police reports to his mommy who works on campus. I thought that stuff is confidential.
Alex • Sep 19, 2017 at 5:41 pm
There is an officer named Chad. His daddy got hired externally so there is a father and son at the department. The chief decided to hire externally because that was her friend instead of internally.
Chad has a bad rep at his previous department in Hutchinson KS PD. Get an authorization of release and look at his personal file. And now his daddy works as a supervisor. His dad even supervised his son on the same shift
Disgruntled • Sep 13, 2017 at 3:04 am
And they were always out of plastic forks! Every time I forgot to bring a fork for my lunch, there were no forks to be found!
One time, I ate my yogurt with a damned knife!
I guarantee KU PD keeps thousands of forks on supply.
Ridiculous.
Alma Fuerte • Sep 12, 2017 at 10:43 pm
Hmm, interesting and extremely vague article. My bet is on being served as the prime witness in a federal EEOC complaint just a few days ago. Perhaps that’s what is meant by “having a lot of things on her plate.”
EEOC complaint • Sep 13, 2017 at 4:17 pm
What’s this about?
AlmaFuerte • Sep 19, 2017 at 10:06 pm
An EEOC complaint was filed on September 31, 2017 against the WSU PD. To my knowledge, a WSU PD Seargeant did the right thing when confronted with a morally questionable situation involving another officer and they tried to fire him for it.
Pham Esaki • Sep 12, 2017 at 8:41 pm
Can we get at the least an investigation by the Sunflower on the allegations? It seems people know a lot about our Police department that the rest of us didn’t. Rape? Abuse? Corruption? I thought SGA had issues….
I agree • Sep 12, 2017 at 11:14 pm
I agree. I would like to know about these things too. I think you guys need to look into the WSU PD.
Disgruntled 2.0 • Sep 13, 2017 at 2:16 pm
The issue is with supervision not the officer themselves, supervision needs to be investigated.
WSU PD should be investigated • Sep 12, 2017 at 1:14 am
Sara has been condoning the bad behavior of her law enforcement staff at WSU. Sara and the police and detectives are culpable for a lot of crime on our campus and ungodly amounts of mishandling of crime on our campus. They really should be investigated.
Walking by • Sep 11, 2017 at 9:14 pm
That’s nothing when I was a freshman living at the towers I saw a tall officer in a hat I think his name was tureen put his hands on a brown officer. It didn’t like they were joking.
RJ • Sep 11, 2017 at 4:59 pm
I knew of a lot of internal investigations and allegations of abuse of power and improper/unfair treatment of officers there. There were a lot of good workers and officers who were ran out of the department because they just couldn’t deal with the way the WSU police Department was managed. In my opinion Morris, Hurl, and Garwood all should have been investigated a long time ago, but a real investigation. Not one of those investigations where the wrongdoing is found, but we are just going to start all over and play nice. The kind where the problem is found and rectified. It is way overdue (Morris retirement) hope there are more to follow.
Steph • Sep 11, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Whats the big dumb ones name with the dark letters tattooed on his forearms? He’s mean, it’s like he doesn’t know how to talk to people.
RJ • Sep 11, 2017 at 5:00 pm
Garwood
Eddy • Sep 11, 2017 at 3:30 pm
This has to be a good move for this Department going forth in the future. The command staff in this department is ridiculous,. Sara let Guy and Corey do what they want also known as ” the good ol boy club” or lets not forget their new puppet Sgt B. Agnew who’s also been known to the law himself not just from working for the law either. The 3 of them Sara, Guy and Corey have ran off some good folks from that department. I personally think her leaving is a DAMN good thing. A Chief is suppose to be the head of the department but I guess when the Chief is never there due to her taking care of her alpacas someone has to do her job which was typically Corey and Guy. If it doesn’t pertain to guns and youtube Corey wants nothing to do with it. Corey has a DUI from back in the day, Brad Agnew has domestic issues in his background and several PFA’s, His son Chad Agnew was the suspect in a rape and arson case. How can a father and son be on the same shift when the father is the supervisor on duty? Hmmm sounds a little fishy huh? This department is full of discrimination. Notice every other month or so they have Officer positions open. Out of all the Officers who have left there either on their own behalf or not they 99% of them are Officers for other agencies. That should tell you something….
Alex • Oct 2, 2017 at 8:22 pm
I think that you should do your research before bashing our UPD officers. I would like to see where you found your “facts”.
Former • Oct 2, 2017 at 9:07 pm
Well, from reading Eddy’s post it seems like it is supervision that is being attacked and for good reason I might add. I can tell you, from what I experienced, that what Eddy said is factual. The only person that would make a comment like what you put Alex would have to be one the spineless weasels that were in Sara’s circle.
Pete • Oct 2, 2017 at 9:20 pm
Everything Eddy said was correct. And he didn’t bash all the officers only the shitty ones.
Jeff • Sep 11, 2017 at 9:43 am
She loves favoritsm and is a racist.
She only promotes people that are her friend.
The whole command staff is a fraud.
WSU Human Resources needs to realize why the wsupd is always hiring police officers constantly.
Man if your not white your not getting promoted.
There is a father and son at the department they use to work the same shift.
Racism and favoritism at its worst
Former • Sep 9, 2017 at 8:20 am
I worked under her and I can honestly say that I have nothing nice to say about her because she’s just not a good person. You would only need to look at the supervision to realize that everything is not based on qualification but how much they suck up to her. Favoritism is out of control in that department. There were people who complained about one supervisor because he was driving off good officers and all she did was blame those who were making the complaints. I wish I would have only stayed a little longer to see her leave. Hopefully someone competent can now lead that department.
Which Office • Sep 9, 2017 at 12:23 pm
Wow. Sounds like the President’s Office.
John Jay • Sep 9, 2017 at 12:56 am
That makes sense Chris. When I enrolled I took time to meet officers at various functions. I never seen the same officer twice.
Chris • Sep 8, 2017 at 11:56 am
a community officer told me people quit the department because of the cheif and captains awhile ago
John Jay • Sep 8, 2017 at 10:51 am
Schroeder loves to hear himself talk so I’m a little shocked all he could say was “she has alot on her plate.” Maybe he has learned that nobody listens to him but himself.
Christopher • Sep 8, 2017 at 8:48 am
Bye Felicia
Chris • Sep 7, 2017 at 2:05 pm
And officer herl needs to go too. All he does is talk about guns. He’s like totally obsessed af.
It's time • Sep 5, 2017 at 2:27 pm
It’s about time. The Wichita State police department needs a serious restructuring. It’s also time for Schroeder and Rider to go.
Fake Pres. Bardo • Sep 3, 2017 at 11:59 pm
Another one bites the dust!
As always,
Fake Pres. Bardo
not bardo • Sep 4, 2017 at 7:02 pm
lame
Weasel your way out • Sep 1, 2017 at 7:52 pm
It is always smart to get out before you get caught. Smooth.
It's about time • Sep 1, 2017 at 7:06 pm
Sara Morris needed to get fired a long time ago. Corrupt as ever.
Non-Disparagement Agreement • Sep 1, 2017 at 6:46 pm
Did she have to sign a non-disparagement agreement to “retire”?
Right..... • Sep 1, 2017 at 3:51 pm
Yeah. Right. Sara woke up today and said I think I will retire this month. She said in the past she couldn’t speak her mind because she thought she would get fired by Bardo. She figured she would be replaced by David Moses’ wife. The fear of retaliation tuns deep at WSU.
She did a great job so that probably did her in.
skeptic • Sep 1, 2017 at 7:36 pm
Citation needed for her speaking her mind.