Black Kansas City police officer sues, alleges he faced discrimination in helicopter unit

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Black Kansas City police officer who has been with the department for 16 years has sued, alleging he faced discrimination during training in the helicopter unit.

The lawsuit was filed last week in Jackson County Circuit Court by De’Angelo Dotson.

His allegations of discrimination are the latest to face the department, which has settled numerous claims brought by its own officers.

The Kansas City Police Department generally does “not comment on pending litigation to ensure fairness for all sides involved,” Capt. Jake Becchina said in an email Monday.

A 2022 Star investigation found that KCPD disproportionately disciplines Black officers compared to their white colleagues, and that the department has struggled with recruiting and retaining officers of color.

The latest data shows the department continues to fail at reflecting the racial makeup of the community, with 11.6% of its officers identifying as Black in a city that is 26% Black, according to a department report from August and the U.S. Census.

Dotson’s lawsuit says the helicopter unit has not had a racial minority or a woman complete training in about two decades, and it is currently staffed with five white male pilots.

He began the flight program in January 2023 and needed 300 hours of training, but alleges he only got 2.9 cumulative flight hours in his first six months. Meanwhile, his white colleagues got more flight training time, the lawsuit said.

He was also “counseled or written-up for things for which his Caucasian, male colleagues in the unit had also done but for which they did not receive discipline or counseling,” the lawsuit said.

After Dotson went to human resources, he was grounded from flying.

The unit became more hostile and “his opportunities were significantly limited,” the lawsuit said.

In December 2023, he was terminated from the unit and sent back to patrol.

Dotson filed complaints alleging discrimination and retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, or MCHR. In August, the MCHR issued a notice of his right to sue.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into KCPD’s hiring and employment practices following The Star’s investigation. The police department on Monday referred questions about the status of the investigation to the DOJ, which declined to comment.