KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Three former Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department detectives have accused the department of discrimination in a federal lawsuit.
Gleanice Brown, Latondra Moore and Tamara Solomon worked as detectives in the Crimes Against Children Unit when the alleged discrimination took place, according to the suit.
The suit was filed in the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City.
Among the suit's claims, the Black women in the unit were more severely scrutinized and paid less than white men who worked in the same unit.
The suit also states the police department knew the unit's supervisors "had a racial and sexual bias" against the Black female detectives.
All three women claim in the suit that they suffer from continuing emotional pain and suffering, insult, mental distress, embarrassment, humiliation another other maladies related to their discrimination.
The Crimes against Children Unit came under intense scrutiny by the police department for its conduct between 2011 and 2016.
Chief Rick Smith wrote in a January 2019 blog post that an internal investigation found problems with the organization, individual commanders, supervisors and detectives.
The investigation revealed 149 cases needed to be reworked and more than one dozen detectives, supervisors and commanders were disciplined.
The three women also worked in the unit during department's internal investigation.
When contacted for comment, a KCPD spokesperson provided the following statement:
As a general matter of practice we do not offer a comment on pending civil litigation to ensure the fairest process for all sides in the preceding.
