KCK police did the wrong thing with Golubski. Now the public demands real reform | Opinion

Roger Golubski’s criminal trial could have been an important moment of closure and justice for his victims. While Golbulski’s death deprived the brave women he harmed of this moment, it is not the end of the story or their fight for justice. That is because a single officer is not capable of wreaking the harm Golubski inflicted on the people of Kansas City, Kansas, without the protection and tacit support of his department.

The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department maintained systems and a culture that enabled and protected Golubski for decades. The KCKPD’s internal affairs department ignored reports of misconduct about Golubski and prevented civilians from filing complaints. Additionally, KCKPD officers repeatedly failed to intervene when they witnessed Golubski sexually assaulting women at police headquarters. Even though Golubski’s crimes and abusive conduct toward informants was well known, he was never disciplined, instead receiving promotions throughout his career. KCKPD’s insular and secretive culture ensured that Golubski could commit his crimes without external detection or consequences.

Golubski may be gone, but the police agency that empowered and enabled his violence is still here. The question becomes what steps has the KCKPD taken to change? Sadly, if you look at the department’s actions over the last several years, it seems that many of the same issues that plagued the department during Golubski’s tenure have persisted. The KCKPD is still allegedly interfering with civilian complaints through the use of intimidation tactics. Officers still allegedly fail to intervene when they witness their colleagues using violent and excessive force.

Perhaps most concerning is the department’s continued culture of secrecy, which all but ensures its patterns of violence and corruption persist shielded from public knowledge. In a time when police should be prioritizing transparency to rebuild community trust, they are working overtime to shield their actions from public scrutiny and interfere with external oversight.

For instance, in 2018, when District Attorney Mark Dupree created a conviction integrity unit, the KCKPD tried to enlist the state attorney general to block his efforts. In 2022, Police Chief Karl Oakman advocated for the department to handle the review of Golbulski’s old cases internally, opposing community demands to enlist an independent agency with no conflict of interest. More recently, the department has rejected the public’s efforts to gain information about the deaths of people shot by its officers, going as far as to sue the Kansas City, Missouri, police department to hide their officers’ body-worn camera footage from the public.

The harms we see the department engaging in today reveal that Golubski’s actions were only a small piece of the department’s continuing pattern of misconduct. Whatever the outcome of Golubski’s criminal trial, it was never going to represent true accountability. The KCKPD must acknowledge the role it played in the harm Golubski perpetrated and undertake significant reforms to prevent its officers from engaging in future violence.

At a minimum, the department should settle the civil case that Michelle Houcks and her co-plaintiffs filed against the city for the assaults and abuses they suffered from Golubski. If the department truly wishes to disavow Golubski’s conduct, it should provide the women he harmed with financial compensation and adopt the reforms their suit is seeking to impose rather than trying to get their case thrown out.

The department should also stop operating in secrecy and adopt policies that maximize transparency. Under the Kansas Open Records Act, the department has broad discretion as to what information it releases to the public. There is no reason police cannot adopt a policy of releasing information to the public so long as it will not compromise an ongoing investigation.

Unfortunately, we know that we cannot count on the department to reform or police itself. The Legislature has a role to play, too. Kansas should reform its open records policy so that the KCKPD and other police agencies no longer have the option to hide records of problematic officers from the public, including body-worn camera footage of potential police misconduct. The state can also empower its own agencies to exercise more oversight over misconduct in local police departments as it did with the state racial profiling statute in 2012.

While the women harmed by Golubski may not see him face consequences in criminal court, we still have an opportunity to hold Kansas City, Kansas, police accountable. If the department is unwilling to take steps toward reconciliation and reform on its own, the state must do its part to support community demands for transparency and oversight.