Former Wichita police deputy chief Jose Salcido is one of four finalists for chief of the Topeka Police Department.
Salcido was the Wichita Police Department’s first Latino deputy chief.
He resigned Aug. 21, 2023, after roughly 28 years with WPD, which included overseeing criminal investigations. He left WPD and became Friends University’s director of security for six months before joining the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a data analyst for the past five months, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Salcido retired in 2015 from the Kansas Air National Guard after 26 years, his profile says. He was a major.
Salcido was the last holdover from former chief Gordon Ramsay’s administration when he left. Salcido left after he, former deputy chief Chester Pinkston and Ramsay were blamed for the little or no discipline given to officers who sent racist and inappropriate text messages.
Several of the officers later were suspended after a Wichita Eagle investigation.
Salcido was passed over multiple times for the WPD chief position. Salcido, Pinkston and former deputy chief Wanda Givens-Parker sued the city for $2.4 million, saying they were undermined by city leadership and the Wichita Fraternal Order of Police when they tried to rid the department of racism, sexism, homophobia and corruption.
A federal judge threw out the case earlier this year, saying the complaint where the deputy chiefs’ allegations were made was “long, confusing, and untethered.”
The city of Topeka sent out a news release about the finalist on Friday. The city has invited the public to a meet and greet with the candidates on Nov. 6.
The other candidates are W. Simon Happer, who is a deputy chief in Overland Park; Chris Vallejo, who worked for decades with the Austin Police Department, having last served as the investigations commander; and Russ Klump, a major with the Topeka Police Department, according to the release and online professional profiles.
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