At Casper’s City Council meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Kenyne Humphrey requested an investigation of the Casper Police Department. The request follows the results of a survey taken by law enforcement officers that point to potential issues with the agency’s leadership.
Mayor Kenyne Humphrey said Casper’s local branch of the Fraternal Order of Police brought her the results of a survey taken by current and former members of the Casper Police Department. She said what she saw was alarming.
Councilwoman Amanda Huckabay read a passage from the survey, which claimed the workload given to detectives is well over the limit that can be handled by an individual officer. A second passage read by Huckabay described a culture of fear regarding how discipline is handled by Chief of Police Jim Wetzel.
“And I would hope that every police officer that had the courage to come forward in this report would immediately contact each and every city council member if they have any feelings of retribution, threat, or even a suspicion that they are going to be acted against in any manner,” said Huckabay.
Councilman Ray Pacheco supported the investigation but also said it would be important for council to give due process.
“What’s not going to help is us sitting up here, tarring and feathering someone,” said Pacheco. “It’s wrong.”
Councilman Chris Walsh said the council needed to act on the report as soon as possible, but did not give a specific date or a course of action.
