2 KCK officers arrested for DUI are still on the job. Records now closed to public

In a two-year span, two Kansas City, Kansas, police sergeants have been arrested for drunken driving. Both are still on the job.

One case involves the police union president, Sgt. Kenneth Hickerson, which occurred in Kansas City, North. The other incident involved Sgt. Kaitlyn Carter, which happened in Wyandotte County.

It is unclear what disciplinary action, if any, either officer has faced.

Kansas City, Kansas, Police Chief Karl Oakman said in a written statement that under the Kansas Open Records law, disciplinary records are closed to the public.

Oakman said that when an officer is arrested, they are required to immediately alert their commanding officer. Depending on the nature of the arrest, the officer may be assigned to administrative duty or placed on leave while a criminal investigation is conducted.

“We believe in a fair, consistent, and thorough process that reflects both the seriousness of the offense and the values of our department,” Oakman said.

Community activists who monitor police activity in Kansas City, Kansas, did not see the arrests of the two officers as a pattern, but one did say they weren’t surprised.

Khadijah Hardaway, a co-founder of Justice for Wyandotte, a community group, said that the behavior behind the scenes in these situations is not right and doesn’t meet the standards of what police officers should be held to.

Hardaway said that she couldn’t speak to whether officer discipline has gotten better over the years, but did say that when the community comes together to demand transparency, there have been improvements.

“The police department has a lot of work, and I don’t think that falls necessarily on the police chief, because this is his first term,” she said. “I do see some things that he has done to improve policing. However, that doesn’t mean that he has completely and totally eradicated what has happened in the police department and those individuals who are still doing harm to the community.”

Display his badge

Hickerson was initially charged in Platte County Circuit Court with driving while intoxicated and failure to drive within the right lane of the highway with two or more lanes in the same direction.

According to court records, Hickerson was driving north on Ambassador Drive through Northwest 88th Street when he was pulled over by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper for allegedly crossing over into the right lane.

It was just before midnight on July 26, 2024, and, during the traffic stop, he opened his wallet to display his badge while speaking with troopers, according to the probable cause statement.

Hickerson showed signs of impairment and had slurred speech. Prosecutors alleged Hickerson’s eyes were watery and bloodshot. The trooper claimed that he appeared to be confused, according to court records.

The trooper wrote in the probable cause statement that he asked Hickerson to exit his vehicle and be seated in the patrol car, but when he exited the vehicle, he appeared to lose his balance momentarily.

“In my patrol car, I continued to detect a strong odor of intoxicants coming from Hickerson, as he spoke,” the probable cause statement said. “I observed Hickerson to continue to display signs of confusion and speak in a slurred voice. Hickerson again opened his wallet and displayed his law enforcement badge and identification on his lap.”

The trooper conducted field sobriety tests on Hickerson, including being asked to count from 78 backwards to 56. Hickerson allegedly started counting backwards but missed several numbers and counted past 56.

Hickerson was placed under arrest at 4 a.m. on July 27 for driving while intoxicated. The trooper asked Hickerson if he would take a breathalyzer test and he refused. A search warrant was obtained to collect blood samples instead.

He was taken to the Riverside Police Department and issued citations for the two charges before being released.

Hickerson reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and was sentenced for driving while intoxicated and for failing to equip his vehicle with two working headlights on March 16, according to court records.

He was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence with two years of supervised probation, 120 hours of community service and a substance abuse traffic program.

Mark Gibson, an assistant Platte County Prosecutor, said that the plea agreement is standard for any individual charged with a first-time offense for driving while intoxicated.

Hickerson, who is president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #4, declined to comment through his attorney.

Showed signs of impairment

More recently, Sgt. Kaitlyn Carter was arrested by the Kansas Highway Patrol for driving while intoxicated on Feb. 8, according to court records.

A Kansas Highway Patrol trooper responded to a call for assistance for a traffic stop by Police Department officers on Interstate 70 near mile marker 416 in Kansas City, Kansas, according to the arrest narrative provided by KHP.

Carter allegedly showed signs of impairment and was transported to the KHP Wyandotte County office for sobriety tests. Carter was arrested and transported to the Wyandotte County Jail, according to authorities.

Carter was off-duty, but armed at the time she was arrested. Carter was charged with driving under the influence, improper driving on a laned road and possession of a firearm under the influence.

Gary Stone, an attorney for Kaitlyn Carter, did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite her original charges, Kansas court records show that her current case does not include her possession of a firearm under the influence charge.

Jonathan Carter, a spokesperson for the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office, did not respond to requests for comment on whether the firearm charge was dropped.

Both Hickerson and Carter remain employed, according to the Police Department’s spokesperson, Nancy Chartrand.

Advisory board ‘lacks teeth’

Nikki Richardson, another co-founder of Justice for Wyandotte, also serves on the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas’s law enforcement advisory board.

Transparency in Kansas is something that needs work, Richardson said.

“I’m sure that Chief Oakman does the best that he can do,” she said. “However, the community isn’t always looped in on those things.”

While the law enforcement and accountability board exists, Richardson said that there aren’t many ways that they can help due to restrictions on what they can actually do.

“We aren’t even structured in a way that we can take on complaints or assess performance responses,” Richardson said. “There’s no real teeth to the board.”

Richardson said that the board has spoken with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County about various ways to increase the board’s effectiveness and provide more community oversight in similar situations.

This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 2:50 PM.

Ben Wheeler

The Kansas City Star