Wichita officers who sent racist, photoshopped image of George Floyd resign

Two Wichita police officers who sent a text message of a photoshopped image of a naked Black man sitting on the head of George Floyd have left the department.

Donielle Watson had his last day on Dec. 30. Sgt. Jamie Crouch had his last day Thursday. Both resigned: Watson after being hired in January 2004 and Crouch after starting in January 1996.

Neither could be reached for comment.

Watson, who is Black, sent the image to Crouch. The white officer then forwarded it to other officers. The photoshopped image was sent shortly after Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis officers and as protests about police brutality occurred globally and in Wichita.

Watson’s involvement was discovered when the city reopened an investigation into the text message scandal after public outcry following a March 2022 Eagle story detailing some of the messages and the light discipline given. The case involved 13 Wichita officers who sent racist, homophobic or extremist messages.

The only officer originally suspended was one who called former chief Gordon Ramsay a tool.

Crouch was originally given a written reprimand. All the other officers were given non-discipline education and coaching and mentoring. After the city reopened the case, City Manager Robert Layton gave 15-day suspensions to three officers (Watson, Crouch and Chad Spain) and gave two other officers written reprimands and sensitivity training.

In the text messages, Spain identified with the anti-government militia group the “Three Percenters” that was involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The two officers who received reprimands were in a text thread where SWAT team members talked about killing civilians and being “the ultimate de-escalators.”

Wichita Fraternal Order of Police, which has not publicly denounced the text messages, filed grievances to overturn Layton’s discipline. No decision has been made by an arbitrator in any of those cases, Layton said.

In April 2021, Wichita police discovered some of the messages when investigating a Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office deputy involved in a domestic violence case. The original messages found involved three sheriff’s office deputies and a dozen Wichita officers. All of them had served on the elite SWAT team.

None of the deputies now work for the sheriff’s office.

When the city reopened the case, they discovered other inappropriate messages sent by Watson and two Wichita firefighters who had also served on the SWAT team.

A committee report blamed Ramsay and deputy chiefs Chester Pinkston and Jose Salcido for the light discipline and botched investigation. Police leaders did not disclose the troubling text messages to prosecutors. Federal law requires any evidence of police bias to anyone accused or convicted of a crime to be disclosed.

Ramsay, Pinkston, Salcido and former deputy chief Wanda Givens fired back by alleging corruption in the city and saying they would sue unless Layton resigned and they received $2.5 million.

It was announced last month that Pinkston would leave the department to take over as the chief in Liberal, Kansas. The job pays less and Pinkston will oversee far fewer officers. He starts Feb. 20.

A Jensen Hughes report expected later this month is also likely to be critical of problems in the department and its top leaders. The report is expected to serve as a road map on issues to tackle for new police chief Joseph Sullivan, who took over in late November.

Jensen Hughes is one of the top law enforcement consulting companies in the country. They were hired by the city in response to problems within the department The Eagle uncovered in its story about the text messages.