Interim Wichita Police Chief Lemuel Moore said he’s considering applying to lead the department.
Moore was appointed as interim chief following the departure of Chief Gordon Ramsay earlier this year. Moore is a 30-year veteran of the department.
Soon after his appointment, racist text messages sent by Wichita Police officers became public.
Moore, who is Black, had initially wanted to retire this year. But he said a Citizen Review Board investigation into the text messages and his participation in a task force reviewing the death of 17-year-old Cedric Lofton in a county juvenile facility has made him reconsider.
“It seems like we’re on the right path of healing and building that community trust, and so, do I let that go or do I continue to ride that path to progress until I get kicked out or I can’t handle it anymore or something happens?” Moore said.
Applications aren’t currently open for the job, but Moore said he’ll likely throw his name in at the last minute.
The Wichita City Council has hired a firm to conduct a search for the new chief. The search is likely to conclude by the end of the year.
“Right now we are still working with the search firm to establish parameters for the search,” city spokesperson Megan Lovely said in an email.
