Kansas: Ex-Officer Loses Law Enforcement Certificate

A former Butler Community College police officer has been stripped of his law enforcement certificate after being accused of lying about pushing a convenience store employee and crashing a police vehicle , according to the records.

Alexander Thorpe, 45, of Derby, was fired in January from the college’s public safety department, where he had worked as an officer since August 2021, according to a summary order of removal from the Kansas Commission on Standards and Training of peace officers. The organization, also known as KS-CPOST, oversees the training and certification of law enforcement in Kansas.

The summary revocation order gives this account:

The first incident involved a woman who worked in a convenience store. On December 21, 2021, a police captain Butler who was buying coffee was asked by a convenience store employee if Thorpe was an officer of the department. The woman accused Thorpe of poking her in the upper torso the night before.

The woman said she felt uncomfortable and asked Thorpe to leave her alone.

On the same day, Thorpe was involved in a car chase, lost control of his vehicle and crashed. His superiors were concerned about the incident after reviewing body camera footage and other statements from officers that contradicted Thorpe’s explanation.

When Thorpe was asked about the incident with the employee at the gas station, he denied touching or talking to the woman and called her a liar.

Convenience store surveillance video showed Thorpe talking to the woman and showing he touched her. He was placed on administrative leave after being questioned about the incidents.

In a subsequent interview with a commission investigator, Thorpe said he did not recall touching the woman. He said he told staff at Butler’s department that the woman touched him instead.

At the end of the interview, Thorpe said the woman did not touch him and that he lied to his superiors about the incident. He was fired from the department on January 10, 2022.

Thorpe is one of two El Dorado officers to lose their certification last month.

Scott Stewart worked as an officer with the El Dorado Police Department from February 2017 to December 2021. He resigned from his position after concerns surfaced that he had an intimate relationship with a woman he arrested in 2018, according to a CPOST order.

KS-CPOST made several attempts to interview Stewart.

In an email, he no longer expressed interest in retaining his certification, stating that “taking time for an interview I’ve already done with my department is only costing me headaches and money. extra money If you need to revoke my certification, I understand, sir.

This story was originally published July 13, 2022 00:00.