City of Wichita HR director Bezruki to retire in December amid police accusations

Chris Bezruki, the city of Wichita’s human resources director, will retire before the end of the year.

Bezruki, who is embroiled in pending litigation with former Police Chief Gordon Ramsay and his leadership team, is 65. A city spokesperson said the HR director’s retirement is unrelated to allegations that he has fostered an improper relationship with the local police union.

“Chris is retiring in December. He has planned to retire this coming December for several years,” Megan Lovely said in an email. Bezruki’s last day is Dec. 10.

A settlement demand filed on behalf of Deputy Chiefs Jose Salcido, Chet Pinkston and former Deputy Chief Wanda Givens in September was joined by Ramsay on Monday.

It seeks more than $2.5 million in damages and calls on Bezruki and City Manager Robert Layton to resign, alleging that they colluded with the Fraternal Order of Police to subvert leadership’s efforts to address the “abhorrent subculture” of “a small cabal of some SWAT members and officers” in the department.

Bezruki could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Layton has denied the “outrageous” allegations on his and Bezruki’s behalf and has said he will not resign.

The threatened lawsuit alleges that the police union lavished Bezruki with “gifts including expensive lunches” in exchange for favors, including reversing disciplinary decisions made by Ramsay and his team.

“When WPD executive staff made decisions with which the FOP disagreed, the FOP leadership ran to Bezruki, and sometimes Layton, who would overturn those decisions,” the letter states.

Layton has said an investigation into Bezruki did not find any inappropriate relationship or gifts from the Fraternal Order of Police.

The FOP has condemned “false allegations” in the settlement demand, including that the union cultivated an improper relationship with Bezruki.

The HR director was on the committee appointed by Layton to investigate the police department’s handling of racist and inappropriate text messages exchanged between members of local law enforcement.

The committee report blamed police leadership — including Ramsay, Salcido and Pinkston — for mishandling the internal investigation. Ramsay has called Bezruki’s presence on the committee a “flagrant conflict of interest.”

At the time, though, Ramsay’s administration did little to discipline SWAT officers involved in the incident. The only officer suspended initially was one who called Ramsay a “tool.” Multiple officers were later suspended by Interim Chief Lem Moore and Layton after an Eagle investigation into inaction by the city.

Ramsay, who left the department in March and was elected this month as sheriff of St. Louis County, Minnesota, is demanding $400,000 in damages, which he is “asking to be put towards hiring an independent investigator into ethical complaints against city leaders.”

Bezruki was hired by Layton in 2013 and previously served as HR director for the city of Champaign, Illinois.

Wichita posted a job listing for the HR director position three weeks ago, which advertises a salary of between $130,000 and $217,360 annually. The application closes in a week.