A longtime southeast Kansas officer had his police certification revoked after he grabbed a 14-year-old in a “rude and aggressive manner” and made unprofessional comments.
Wallace Simmons’ certification was revoked at the end of May, according to the Kansas Commission of Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, which oversees officer certifications.
The 76-year-old said he already planned to retire from the Cherryvale Police Department before an incident on Aug. 6, 2020, but turned in his papers shortly after because of the fallout around it.
The incident happened after he responded to a report of a fight at a park. Simmons was “verbally aggressive” with multiple teens, saying things like “your little ass is about ready to go to jail” and that he’d show them for copping a “goddamn attitude” with him, the KSCPOST report says. It says he also grabbed a 14-year-old girl by the arms, lifted her up and put her in the back of his patrol vehicle before letting her go.
Simmons said he was a sergeant at the time. He had been with the department from August 2013 to October 2020.
Simmons said he spent more than 45 years in law enforcement, including in Independence, Coffeyville, where he retired as a lieutenant, and Montgomery County, and had never been reprimanded.
The incident, he said, is one that weighs on him, and makes him feel embarrassed for how his actions reflect on his former department and all of law enforcement.
He also said he feels bad for the girl he yelled at.
“I feel like I did some good here and there but this one bad outweighs all the good. Personally … I just feel very humiliated,” he said. “I feel bad for the little girl, I really do, she shouldn’t of had to go through that, from a police officer. I agree, it was totally wrong.”
Simmons said what the KSCPOST report says he said is true, but he doesn’t agree that he “grabbed her in a rude and aggressive manner by the arms and lifted her up.”
He said she was sitting on a bench and popped up when he grabbed her.
Simmons said the whole incident was out of character. He doesn’t think it would have happened had he eaten after taking his insulin shot, instead of rushing to a call about a fight in the park.
The girl and the other teenagers denied being involved in a fight.
The KSCPOST report says he was “aggressive with multiple juveniles throughout his investigation at the park.”
Simmons, the report says, got out of his patrol vehicle and immediately said that: “Your little ass is about ready to go to jail.”
He also said:
“Who is this loudmouth? What is your problem? You think you can open your big fat mouth and start hollering things out at us?” the report says.
Lastly, the report says, he said: “You gonna cop a goddamn attitude with me and I’ll show you what’s going to happen to your little mutt. I’ll deal with all you kids. I’ll put an end to it. By god I will.”
He also put the girl in the back of his patrol vehicle and “placed her against the back,” the report says, adding he never gave any “verbal instructions prior to placing his hands on her.”
The girl didn’t know if she was being detained or arrested, the report says.
“After verbally engaging with the other teenagers, (Simmons) announced that the park was closed,” the report says. “He then pushed (the girl) away from his vehicle and said ‘Bye.’”
He wasn’t charged, but the case was settled in a “pre-charging diversion,” the report says.
Simmons said his son watched the body-cam footage and didn’t recognize him, saying he looked spaced out.
“It was like I was a smart ass or something,” Simmons said after watching the video himself.
No lawsuit was ever filed against the department or the city because of the incident, Cherryvale police Chief Jimmy Holt said.
Simmons said he was a sergeant when he left the department. Cherryvale City Clerk Karen Davis said an open records request and payment would be required to confirm Simmons’ position.
The whole incident was a mistake, Simmons maintains.
“No. 1 the little girl, I feel bad for. No. 2, I feel bad for all the officers in the department, and, No. 3, I feel humiliated.”
“The whole thing never should have happened.”
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