Wichita police to revise ‘gang list’ after Kansas judge approves settlement agreement • Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — The Wichita Police Department’s “gang list” that targeted young black and Hispanic residents based on where they lived, what they wore and what funerals they attended is being revised after a federal judge in August approved a settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed sued the city of Wichita in 2021, alleging constitutional violations on behalf of Progeny, a Wichita-based criminal justice reform organization focused on youth empowerment. The lawsuit was granted class-action status in 2023, and the Wichita City Council voted unanimously in April to settle the case for $625,000, which went toward litigation costs and the services of a Johnson County judge who will oversee implementation of the policy changes.

“At the outset, our clients were interested in a policy change. They weren’t in it for the money, so damages were never part of the case,” Kunyu Ching, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Kansas, said in an interview for the Kansas Reflector podcast.

Under a Kansas law, a person is considered a member of a criminal gang if they meet at least three of ten criteria. One of those is that a person is a gang member if he or she adopts the “dress style, color, use of hand gestures or tattoos of a gang.”

Wichita authorities’ interpretation of the law resulted in a gang roster that included mostly black and Latino residents and a department policy that placed people on the roster based on the businesses they visited, who they took photos with and who they were friends with. The advocacy groups said police used unreliable evidence — or no evidence at all — to surveil, harass and discriminate against people they believed were gang members or associates.

The policy changes under the settlement agreement require police to revise its criteria for adding someone’s name to the list, remove all gang members and inactive gang members or affiliates from the list, and notify people if they are added to the list, according to the Aug. 26 written order from U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren. The new policy allows minors to avoid being added to the list and creates an appeals process so people can challenge the appearance of their names on the gang list.

The city plans to create a way for the public to check if they are on the police department’s gang list, Wichita city spokeswoman Megan Lovely said in an emailed statement.

“This negotiated agreement is intended to protect the constitutional rights of Wichita citizens and enable law enforcement to conduct effective investigations for public safety,” she said.

Marquetta Atkins-Woods, CEO of Progeny, said in a press release that the case’s outcome was a “great example” of young people driving policy change.

“Our youth were some of the plaintiffs in the case, which is heroic and fierce, to take on something like this,” she said. “I think this lawsuit and settlement is proof positive of how a community can come together to be a catalyst for change.”

The settlement agreement also establishes an ombudsman position to oversee a new appeals process. The Johnson County judge will oversee the implementation of the terms of the agreement over the next three years.

Under Wichita’s previous policy, no one was notified if they were on the list, and there was no way to get their name off. If convicted of a crime, people on the list would receive higher bail amounts, longer sentences, and tougher probation terms.

“So it’s designed for you to fail,” said Teresa Woody, the litigation director at Kansas Appleseed.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, Wichita was the only municipal police department in Kansas that used a gang list. The list started out as paper files in a box.

“Today it’s a database,” Ching said. “But essentially it’s a way for the WPD to keep tabs on individuals that they think are gang members or gang members.”

Wichita police have used a gang list for about 30 years, so generations of residents have been affected, she said. Regardless of whether criminal activity was taking place, police would look at “funerals, weddings, family gatherings, public venues, public gatherings like concerts” as reasons to add or keep people on the list, Ching said.

Three of the ACLU of Kansas’ clients in the lawsuit were family members, Ching said. Their active gang status was renewed when they gathered at one of their homes for a vigil for a deceased infant relative. Police, citing the national association of street gangs known as the Bloods, called the vigil a “Blood party” at the time, Ching said.

Black police officers said they avoided contact with certain family members because they feared they themselves would be added to the list, she said.

Woody said she had no doubt that the Sedgwick County police and district attorney were aware of the list and that the way it was used was wrong.

“I think it was really a way to control these communities, or over-control them, under the assumption that the people who lived in those communities were probably criminals,” Woody said.

According to an ACLU of Kansas analysis of 2022 data, more than half of the people on Wichita’s gang roster were Black, nearly 30% were Latino and about 6% were white. Wichita’s population is 68% white, with Black residents making up less than 8% of the population and Latino residents about 14%. Wichita’s gang investigation unit was made up of mostly white police officers, Woody said.

As of May 2022, there were about 5,500 people on Wichita’s gang list. Woody said about two-thirds of the people on the list could be removed under the police department’s revised policy, which went into effect Aug. 26.