Detective defends herself as KCPD seeks to fire her for 2nd domestic violence case
A Kansas City police detective defended herself in a disciplinary hearing Tuesday as the department sought to fire her because of a domestic violence case in which she was accused of choking her spouse.
Detective Tamara Solomon was not charged in that incident, but Police Chief Rick Smith recommended she be fired. Department rules provide her a chance to contest that decision in a hearing.
Solomon represented herself in the hearing at the Kansas City Police Department downtown headquarters. It was not the first time she faced discipline and domestic violence allegations.
Solomon had been arrested in December 2015 after police investigators turned up information that altercations between Solomon and her spouse had escalated to hitting, choking and threats with a loaded handgun. Solomon was not charged in that case. In 2016 she was among seven detectives briefly suspended from the police department’s Crimes Against Children unit during an internal investigation where widespread failures were uncovered.
The hearing Tuesday stemmed from a Jan. 7, 2018, incident when a child called 911 and said Solomon was on top of her spouse and choking her.
Solomon allegedly had arrived home and broke through a locked bedroom door to attack her spouse. The spouse suffered multiple bruises on her face and neck, according to police. Solomon allegedly was uncooperative and combative with investigators.
A detective recommended to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office that Solomon be charged with assault and child endangerment.
Prosecutors declined to file charges, saying it was a case of “mutual combat,” according to attorneys for the police department.
An internal affairs investigation resulted in a recommendation that Solomon be fired.
Brent Coverdale, an attorney representing the police department and the police chief, said the entire chain of command supported the firing recommendation. Solomon’s actions violated department policy, he said.
“Throughout this situation Officer Solomon did not act as the department expects its officers to act,” Coverdale said.
Solomon declined to offer an opening statement in the hearing. She did not call any witnesses when given an opportunity to present her side of the case to the police board.
Solomon told board members that she has divorced her spouse and has learned from her past mistakes.
“I have grown from it,” Solomon said. “The mistakes that I have made in my past have made me a better officer. I am finally in a healthy relationship with myself.”
“I humbly asking the board to give me another chance,” she said.
Board of Police Commissioners President Nathan Garrett said the board would hear testimony and later review a transcript of the proceedings before making a decision. The decision was not expected Tuesday.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 11:03 AM.
