Letter to Kansas Attorney General Requesting Investigation Tonganoxie Police Department

On March 21, 2019, the ACLU of Kansas sent a letter to the Kansas Attorney General's office requesting an investigation into a pervasive culture of racial bias in the Tonganoxie Police Department after a black man was detained by local police while moving into his own home.

Karle Robinson was held at gunpoint and handcuffed as he moved into a home he had purchased in Tonganoxie, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Kansas City. After his detention, Mr. Robinson was subjected to a campaign of surveillance and harassment and the police chief obstructed him from filing a racial bias complaint.

We are calling on the Kansas Office of the Attorney General to investigate the Tonganoxie Police Department or refer this complaint to the Kansas Commission on Police Officers Standards and Training (CPOST), under Kansas statute.

*UPDATE* On May 30, Mr. Robinson received a letter from the CPOST investigator explaining that the commission had closed his case with no action.

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Letters to Officials