A look at KCPD officers with past violence: Could they be paid to leave? | Opinion
If Kansas City police commissioners kept track of problem officers who should no longer be on the force, Dylan Pifer has to be at the top of the list. He should be followed out the door by anyone else who has failed to uphold their oath to protect and serve.
In a recent column, I wrote that Chief Stacey Graves and the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners — which includes Mayor Quinton Lucas — should offer buyout packages to any officer with a violent past. My story was in response to Lucas’ recent proposal to use the city’s legal expense funds to help cover litigation costs when the department is sued. In this fiscal year alone, the agency has paid close to $11 million in legal settlements.
Last month, Kansas City police officer Blayne Newton had multiple use of force incidents under his belt when Graves and the police board ushered him out the door with a $50,000 separation agreement. Lucas and his fellow police commissioners should be proactive and offer trouble-making cops $50,000 to go away, I wrote. I concluded that offering buyouts to wayward officers would be much cheaper than paying for their reckless behavior while in uniform.
Based on what is publicly known, Kansas City police officers who have committed violent acts while on duty don’t deserve to still wear a police uniform. Sadly, some of them were still employed as of Friday, according to department officials.
Dylan Pifer
In 2019, Pifer fatally shot Terrence Bridges, an unarmed Black man who had moved here to escape violence in his hometown of Chicago, Bridges’ family has said. Three years after Bridges’ death, his family settled a civil rights lawsuit against KCPD for $5 million, one of the largest payouts in agency history.
Six months later, Pifer was one of several officers on the scene when former police Sgt. Matthew Neal brutalized a teenager. Neal was indicted, pleaded guilty to assault, resigned and surrendered his peace officer license while Pifer escaped relatively unscathed. A complaint filed against Pifer with the police board’s Office of Community Complaints accusing him of misconduct in the incident was sustained. However, the finding was later overturned.
In January 2021, the police board reached an agreement with the teen for $725,000 to settle an excessive use of force lawsuit filed against Neal and Pifer. Pifer is still with the police department.
David Frazier
In 2022, police officer David Frazier was videotaped appearing to throw Mack Nelson to the ground and forced his face into the pavement, resulting in a gash on Nelson’s forehead that required stitches. Nelson sued and settled with KCPD for $500,000.
Jackson County prosecutors investigated Frazier for a possible crime, but he was never criminally held liable for his actions the night he slammed Nelson to the ground. I watched video footage of Nelson lying motionless on the ground for several minutes and still wonder how he wasn’t seriously injured or worse. I remember looking at photos of Nelson’s ghastly injuries above his left eye and quickly turning away. Frazier is still with the police department.
Chris Showalter
When video emerged of Chris Showalter curb stomping William Michael Hardy two years ago in Westport, that should have been the end of Showalter’s law enforcement career. What the officer did to Hardy was unimaginable: The Kansas City man still hasn’t fully recovered almost two years after the incident.
Last year, a Jackson County grand jury indicted Showalter. Prosecutors charged him with one count of fourth-degree assault for using excessive force on Hardy during the encounter on July 6, 2024.
After encountering Showalter, Hardy was left with a cut to his chin that required several stitches and a traumatic brain injury, according to claims made in his civil lawsuit filed last summer. Showalter and the private security firm that hired him to work off-duty in the Westport entertainment district were named in the suit.
Because of a lingering head injury, it has been difficult for Hardy to maintain steady employment, one of his civil attorneys told me recently. Last month, Showalter’s criminal trial, originally scheduled March 23 in Jackson County Circuit Court, was canceled, according to court records. A pretrial conference on the matter is March 20. This means a likely resolution is forthcoming.
Unlike some of the other officers I mentioned in this column, Showalter will likely face some accountability for his actions in a court of law. No matter how his case is adjudicated, he should not police anyone.
Dishonorable mention: Alyssa Surges
While she was not accused of committing an act of violence, Surges should be under the microscope because of false statements. Her incident report in the Mack Nelson case did not match witness statements, nor what was seen on the aforementioned footage of the heinous act committed by Frazier. She, too, was investigated for making a false statement, but nothing ever came of the inquiry.
According to Surges’ report, Frazier didn’t body slam Nelson to the ground at all. In fact, it was Nelson himself that caused his injuries, Surges wrote. When officers notified Nelson he was under arrest, Frazier began to handcuff him, according to Surges. But Nelson jerked his hands and body away from Frazier during the arrest, causing him to fall and hit the pavement, she wrote.
Folks, the six-figure settlement with Nelson seems to differ.
No Kansas City officer with a bad reputation should continue to work for our city. With millions of dollars in settlements paid out over a few years — not to mention other hundreds of thousands in settlements where police did leave or were prosecuted — officers who commit violence should be encouraged to walk out the door.
