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A class action lawsuit has been filed against the City of Wichita and its police department claiming that a “Gang List” is used to discriminate against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals and communities.
Lead plaintiff, advocacy group Progeny Kansas, along with Christopher Cooper, Elbert Costello, Martel Costello, and Jeremy Levy, Jr., say that a Gang List is used by the Wichita police department to “unlawfully track, surveil, prosecute, and punish large swaths” of communities of color in the city. The plaintiffs say in their class action lawsuit filed in Kansas federal court Thursday that the use of the Gang List by the police and city violates their and other BIPOC community members’ Constitutional rights.
“Police officers within the WPD’s Gang Unit routinely exercise unilateral and virtually unchecked power to designate individual Wichita residents as ‘gang members’ or ‘gang associates’ based on scant and unreliable evidence, or, indeed, no evidence at all,” states the class action which seeks to represent individuals included on the Gang List, along with a subclass of Black, Latinx, or members of other racial minority groups who are included on the List.
The class action claims that Gang List criteria applied by the Wichita police department are so vague and broad that most community members, including police officers themselves, could be included.
The police allegedly use six general criteria, such as frequenting a known street gang’s area, wearing gang colors, or associating with gang members. A person who meets just three of these criteria can find themselves on the Gang List, say the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs claim that when individuals are put on the Wichita police department’s Gang List, they are provided no notification or opportunity to challenge the determination. Allegedly, they are “branded as gang members or associates for life,” as a result.
“Inclusion on the Gang List subjects an individual to a wide range of severe civil and criminal consequences, including enhanced bail and probation and parole terms, limited plea opportunities, extreme prejudice at criminal trials, widespread reputational harm, denial of associative and assembly rights, and discrimination in housing, licensing, and employment” alleges the class action lawsuit.
The Gang List is used to target Wichita’s BIPOC communities, claim the plaintiffs. The class action lawsuit points out that, although Black residents make up less than 11 percent of the city’s population, they make up a disproportionate number of individuals included on the Gang List – 25 percent.
The lawsuit notes that, despite making up 62.8 percent of the Wichita population, white residents only account for 6 percent of those on the Gang List. Further, the plaintiffs contend that the white residents included on the list, mainly members of “biker groups” and “white supremacists,” are not subjected to the same amount of police tracking and prosecution as Black or other BIPOC individuals.
The plaintiffs seek to end the use of the Gang List by the Wichita police department, along with a court declaration stating that the List and its policies and practices violate the US Consitution.
Have you been put on a “Gang List” or prosecuted by a police gang unit? We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience in the comment section below.
The lead plaintiffs are represented by Teresa A. Woody of the Kansas Appleseed Center of Law and Justice, Inc, and Sharon Brett of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Kansas.
The Wichita Police Gang List Class Action Lawsuit is Progeny Kansas, et al. v. City of Wichita, Kansas, et al., Case No. 6:21-cv-01100-EFM-ADM in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
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