Corruption is a relative term, but all police departments, government agencies and municipalities suffer from some form of it, and the Wichita Police Department is no different.

Occupy Wichita Spokesperson Mike Shatz has made it his civil duty to make Wichitans aware of just how bad that corruption is, and what needs to be done to correct misconceptions.

“We’re coming at this from multiple angles,” he said.

Shatz recently posted an article on kansasexposed.org listing off the top 10 most corrupt law enforcement officials in the WPD. Among them, Lt. Todd Ojile, Detective Robert Chilsholm and number one on the list, Chief Norman Williams. Several activist groups have called for the ousting of Chief Williams because of his knowledge of internal affairs and gross negligence in disciplining officers when they participate in misconduct.

Misconduct comes in all shapes and sizes. According to the article, Shatz notes several instances where law enforcement have pinned a crime on an innocent person and been accused of police brutality. In a recent instance, Lt. Ojile is accused of bullying witnesses and persuading them to testify against a suspect, when those witnesses were positive that the picture shown to them was not the culprit.

“They informed me that Ojile was showing pictures to neighbors, telling them that he needed them to say that the suspect was the shooter,” Shatz said.

Behavior like this from a department supervisor is grounds for legal condemnation. A law enforcement organization has the responsibility to protect the innocent and prosecute criminals only after a judge or jury finds them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. What the WPD is doing is taking whatever measures they see fit, whether ethical or unjust, to capture someone and boost their numbers in solving crime. It is an attitude that needs to be reprimanded and changed.  

Occupy Wichita is working to do this, by being a guiding light at the center of several movements, including the request for a citizen’s review board and body cameras for police officers to wear on-duty. Small changes in the department such as these could benefit people in the community as well as officers on the job.

“It catches crooks, prevents false allegations and if there is a question, we can go to the camera footage,” Shatz said. “I think it’s a win for the whole community.”

Wednesday, the group will be holding a press conference at noon to discuss the matter of pushing body cameras for officers.

Within the department, there has been some resistance to wear the cameras during shifts. This looks bad to someone outside of the bureau. What are the police trying to hide? Body cameras could end up being a stockpile for evidence, proving to be beneficial in some if not all court cases, not to mention protecting the rights of citizens during arrests.

Shatz said awareness is one of the key elements in making a step toward change.

“Articles like the one I wrote doesn’t bring these changes about, but in a sense it emboldens people because people are afraid to speak out against the police department,” he said.

At the end of the day, the article posted is less about trying to make a change in the department, and more about shedding light on the problems right here in Wichita. The Sunflower will continue its investigation into the WPD and have more details in next week’s issue.

-The Editorial Board