Outgoing Independence police chief leaves complex legacy with sudden exit
The surprise exit of Independence Police Chief Adam Dustman on Friday leaves the city with several major vacancies to fill — and leaves the police department with several ongoing legal challenges.
Dustman requested leave from the Independence Police Department on May 23, shortly after returning from a trip to Washington, D.C. during National Police Week.
The department has remained tight-lipped about the reasons behind his exit. However, KMBC reported that before Dustman’s resignation, IPD had opened an internal investigation into his conduct during the trip.
Dustman spent his entire law enforcement career, and his entire working life, with the Independence Police Department. He was hired in 2008 after graduating from the University of Central Missouri in 2007, and stepped into the role of interim chief in February 2022 before receiving a full-time appointment in 2023.
The department credits Dustman with leading the department through a period of progress and modernization, including updating some facilities and securing funding for new equipment.
In an email to IPD employees the night before he took leave, Dustman wrote that he wanted to “focus on being the best version of myself and the best dad that I can be.” Dustman’s wife Sara, nee Fisher, filed for divorce in April, according to Jackson County court records.
Dustman’s surprise exit caps off a complex legacy with the Independence Police Department. During his tenure, the department has contended with a stream of lawsuits, with officers alleging everything from retaliation to misconduct to discrimination.
Meanwhile, several wrongful death suits accuse officers of unnecessarily using lethal force, including in the death of a woman and her baby at the hands of IPD.
Unresolved lawsuits
Several current or former employees filed lawsuits against the Independence Police Department during Dustman’s employment as chief, with at least three lawsuits filed in 2024 and at least three filed this year.
Former employee Laurie Garland filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the department in 2024, alleging she faced illegal retaliation at work after testifying against Dustman during an investigative hearing regarding his appointment as chief.
Garland alleged she was placed unfairly on administrative leave after uncovering tampering and misconduct among IPD officers responsible for evidence storage. She alleged that some items marked by destruction were instead hidden and stored by officers, and that after reporting the violations to her supervisor, Garland was placed on night shift and subsequently fired by Dustman.
Former officer Grant Delacruz also sued the department in 2024, alleging that he was discriminated against and wrongfully terminated after an extended sick leave in 2022 as he grieved the death of North Kansas City police officer Daniel Vasquez.
When he returned to work at IPD, Delacruz alleged, a captain accused Delacruz of abusing the department’s sick leave policy and began bad-mouthing Delacruz to other employees. The insults and interactions allegedly peaked in the spring of 2023, the lawsuit reads, when DelaCruz was allegedly disciplined, suspended and denied a promotion over expired license plates.
IPD is also still facing multiple wrongful death lawsuits from residents alleging their loved ones were killed or injured by officers during Dustman’s tenure.
In March, two women filed a third lawsuit against IPD after three officers were allegedly involved in fatally shooting the father of their children, 39-year-old Tyrea Pryor, after a car chase in 2022.
In June, relatives of Maria Pike and Destinii Hope, a mother and infant who died in a fatal police shooting in Independence on Nov. 7, filed a lawsuit against the two officers involved. The suit alleges that the officers, Jordan White and Chad Cox, knew the woman was mentally ill and escalated the events leading up to the shooting without waiting for a mental health professional they had summoned.
Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson declined to press charges against White and Cox, saying her office could not “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting officer used excessive force.”
Dustman, meanwhile, said at a news conference shortly after their deaths that he felt the shooting was justified because Pike had a weapon, calling the incident an example of “best practice policing.”
“That woman retrieved a knife that was concealed inside of that apartment that she knew,” Dustman said. “She retrieved that deadly weapon and she charged at the officers. Those were her decisions. And I am very, very sad that those decisions were made, but those were hers and hers alone.”
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Ongoing internal issues
The Independence Police Department has struggled with internal issues surrounding the role of chief since before Dustman’s tenure.
Previous police chief Brad Halsey, a 30-year IPD veteran who led the department from 2016 to 2021, was accused of sexual harassment and assault by a former employee in 2018.
The suit stemmed from a 2013 incident during which Halsey allegedly asked a female employee to adjust his tie while he touched her buttocks and pulled her forcibly into his erect penis. The former employee also alleged that Halsey sexually harassed her over text for an extended period of time before the incident.
At the time, IPD declined to comment on the suit but did say it sparked an internal investigation. IPD settled the lawsuit in 2020 for $100,000, which was paid by the Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund.
When Dustman succeeded Halsey two years later, the department was back in court, this time over an age discrimination lawsuit filed by Ken Jarnagin, a 32-year member of the Independence Police Department who was briefly named interim chief right after Halsey’s exit.
Jarnagin served as interim chief from Halsey’s exit December 2021 to January 2022, when he announced his retirement. In his lawsuit, he claimed that he was passed up as a permanent successor to Halsey due to his age.
The lawsuit also alleged that Jarnagin, then 54, was unfairly placed on administrative leave during an investigation of IPD’s overtime practices, and that the city retaliated against Jarnagin with a hostile environment after he filed a complaint with the Missouri Human Rights Commission. IPD settled with Jarnagin in 2024 for an undisclosed amount.
Now-outgoing city manager Zach Walker also drew fire for the overtime investigation, which took place in 2022, after a whistleblower tip led to investigation of a construction project that officers allegedly completed internally without a contract. Officers were allegedly paid $400,000 in department funds for the work, including one who logged more than 2,800 hours of overtime.
Jarnagin alleged he was the only employee Walker put on leave during the investigation, even though, he alleges, Dustman also signed off on some of the potentially fraudulent overtime. At the time, Halsey also became involved in the lawsuit, alleging Walker was aware of the overtime situation throughout the whole construction project.
What’s next
Deputy Chief Jason Peterson will continue to serve as Dustman’s replacement through a nationwide search for the next chief, conducted by national search firm Strategic Government Resources.
Along with a new police chief, Independence needs a new city manager; the Independence School District is in the early stages of searching for a new superintendent; and the Independence Chamber of Commerce is transitioning leadership in July.
City manager Zach Walker announced this week that he will leave in October to become city manager of Bloomington, Minnesota, while ISD is expected to find a full-time replacement for interim superintendent Dr. Cynthia Grant in early 2026.
The city will also search for a new mayor in 2026 with Mayor Rory Rowland telling The [Independence] Examiner this week that he will not seek re-election.
Previous reporting by Robert A. Cronkleton and PJ Green contributed to this coverage.
This story was originally published August 16, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
