Report alleges former Raytown police captain sexually harassed coworkers for years

A former Raytown police captain is alleged to have sexually harassed coworkers for more than a decade, according to a Police Department internal affairs report.

In the January 2017 report, nearly a dozen police personnel of varying ranks said Douglas Goode engaged in a range of inappropriate behavior from sexual comments toward coworkers and their spouses to groping and intimidation, dating as far back as 2007.

The report recently came to light amid a mayoral race that pits a self-styled city government whistleblower against a longtime police official who is the incumbent.

Among other complaints, the report alleges that Goode, when being introduced to a subordinate officer’s wife, asked “Can I have her?”

Goode is also alleged to have groped and made an inappropriate pass at a female officer, openly shared unwanted details of his sex life, and asked female coworkers what type of underwear they wore.

At least three coworkers described Goode engaging in multiple behaviors they called “creepy.”

Goode left the department shortly after the report was completed. In a recent phone interview with The Star, Goode said he knew he had been under investigation for the comment about his coworker’s wife, but that the litany of other allegations came as a shock.

“These are all lies. When I left the department, I didn’t know about all this other stuff,” Goode said. “Only thing I knew from the investigation was that I offended one person.”

The former police captain has not been charged with any crimes.

Goode said he retired from the Police Department. Interim Police Chief Randy Hudspeth said in a recent phone interview that Goode’s departure is officially listed as “resigned amid investigation.”

Hudspeth confirmed that Goode was the subject of the heavily redacted internal affairs report but declined to discuss the investigation.

Hudspeth took office after Chief Jim Lynch, who led the department during the period described in the report, retired in January.

The report became public through a records request by Tony Jacobs, a Raytown mayoral candidate with a track record of using the Sunshine Law to raise issues of good governance in the city. The Star obtained its own copy of the report.

Jacobs is running against current mayor Mike McDonough, who spent more than 40 years with the Police Department. It’s why, Goode says, Jacobs has chosen this moment to bring attention to a nearly two-year-old internal affairs report.

“That’s the only reason I’m talking,” Goode said. “This is about dirty politics.”

Jacobs said his history of bringing attention to wrongdoing in Raytown speaks against that notion.

“It’s upsetting to see how many city staff are being abused, and how nothing is being done to help them,” Jacobs said.

No disciplinary action was taken against Goode by the Police Department as a result of the report.

Goode said that in addition to apologizing and resolving the inappropriate comment issue with the officer and his wife, he thought he had maintained an amicable relationship with at least two officers who spoke against him in the internal affairs report.

He said he was still invited to company functions and banquets and was given a retirement gift on behalf of the department when he left.

“There is no animosity,” Goode said. “I’m not going to say anything about the department anymore. I thought I left on pretty good terms for anyone.”

Ricky Strack, a retired former sergeant under Goode’s command who had also been with the Police Department for more than 20 years, said he was surprised by the internal affairs investigation and the allegations against Goode.

The Star contacted multiple people interviewed by internal affairs who described wrongdoing by Goode. All declined to speak on the record.

“(The report) took a bunch of us by surprise,” Strack said. “Doug always tried to take care of us and take care of what we needed.”

The internal affairs report about Goode is the one of several cases in which law enforcement officials in the Kansas City area have been accused of sexual misconduct against fellow officers. Most of the targets of abuse have been women.

In 2017, a Kansas City area corrections officer said she was tormented with sexual assaults by co-workers.

Last May, Independence police chief Brad Halsey was sued by a former department employee who accused him of sexually harassing his employees. That case is pending.

That same month, a KCK police officer was charged with sexual battery and a female Kansas City FBI agent filed a lawsuit saying she was routinely sexually harassed by a male coworker and faced department retaliation when she reported the abuse. Both cases are working through the courts.

This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 2:49 PM.