Yesterday, Sunday, February 12th, off-duty City of Wichita a police officer was  accused of rape by an adult female acquaintance.  The incident was reported to the Wichita Police Department who, in order to avoid any conflicts, requested the investigation be handled by the Sedgewick County Sheriff's Department.  The officer has been employed by the department for four years and has been placed on administrative leave. His police powers have been suspended.  On Sunday evening, the officer was booked by the Sheriff's department for felony rape and charges are pending review by the District Attorney. 



As a police department we are evolving and improving in how we communicate issues when police are alleged to be involved in criminal behavior.  When an officer is arrested, booked or charged for a crime we will communicate with our community and media swiftly, openly and neutrally.



We have the highest standards of conduct and were disappointed to learn about this incident. Unfortunately, policing is sadly unique in the sense that when one officer engages in misconduct, it reflects poorly on our entire profession.



 We treasure our trusted and close relationship with our community and while we respect everyone’s right to due process under law, I can’t help but be very disturbed by the nature of this allegation and in no way should this reflect on the good people of our department.



I will refrain from further comment on this case while the wheels of the system engage. 



 The Sheriff and I have been working for the last eight weeks on an agreement whereby the Sheriff's Department would investigate all Wichita Police officer involved criminal cases and vice versa. The agreement is intended to alleviate conflict of interest concerns and bring more credibility to the criminal investigation process. We were going to announce the agreement later this week, but due to this incident we are announcing it now. 



It is one of the first such agreements involving a major city of which we are aware and believe this will be a good practice as our profession evolves and improves.