Kansas: Ex-Police Chief Says Buckner Mayor Forced Him Out
Dr. Kardasz:
Politicians and law enforcement officers have always had interesting relationships. The following story is an example of the friction that sometimes develops.
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Buckner, Kansas: Ex-Police Chief Says Buckner Mayor Forced Him Out
September 22, 2006, from TheKansasCityChannel.com
Controversy involving the mayor of Buckner is swirling again after another former police chief claims she forced him out of office.
KMBC's Jim Flink reported that Buckner has had three police chiefs in a little more than a year. All three left or were fired. Dereck Sayres is still fighting the city over his firing last month. Larry Overfield lasted just two weeks before quitting. Overfield cited a police department that he deemed to be in shambles. Now, Charles Loring is telling his story.
"I understand what Chief Sayers is going through because they did him just like they did me," Loring told Flink. For four years, Loring served as Buckner's police chief. Loring said he loved Buckner until Mayor Debbie Gilmore took office. "I could tell it was going to be a bumpy ride first thing she got in," Loring said.
Loring kept personal documents of what he termed were the mayor's intrusions -- asking him to give her records on things such as assault and DUI cases. "I think it was a friend who we arrested on a DWI, and I think she told me she wanted to see if I did the reports right," Loring said.
Former Buckner Detective Scott Lambert and Sayres say the mayor did the same to them. "You step on toes and that's what happens," Sayres said. "It is totally and completely out of line. Out of line," Lambert said.
"I am the chief law enforcement officer of this city," Gilmore said in an interview two weeks ago.
Flink reported that he obtained a letter sent from Assistant Jackson County Prosecutor Tammy Dickenson asking Gilmore to ensure the integrity of all open case files and evidence. Flink said the letter reminded Gilmore that no one except authorized law enforcement personnel should have access to files or evidence.
"I didn't touch any evidence. Don't know where it's at. Don't want to know where it's at. That's not my job," Gilmore said in an earlier interview.
Flink reported that 37 officers have come and gone in Buckner under the mayor, including Loring, who said he did not resign. Loring said he was handed his resignation letter on city letterhead and was told to sign it.
"I was forced out by the mayor. I didn't do what the mayor wanted me to do -- I didn't give her the records she wanted to see," Loring said. Flink reported that Gilmore was unavailable for a response to his story.
2006 KMBC TheKansasCityChannel.com., 2006 Yahoo! Inc.
Retrieved September 23, 2006 from http://news.yahoo.com/s/kmbc/20060922/lo_kmbc/9904802&printer=1;_ylt=Aoiy5wfQsjtXywZunc77JUIRx0QC;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-