Kansas and Missouri appear in New York Times story on ‘gypsy cops’

A Kansas City, Missouri, police officer who was fired for not calling an ambulance after a pregnant woman complained of pain and bleeding now works for the Independence Police Department.

In 2006, Kevin Schnell and his partner stopped a woman named Sofia Salva, on suspicion that her car had a fake temporary license. During the 14-minute stop, Salva said she was pregnant and made frequent pleas for medical attention, at one point asking Schnell to take care of her baby if she died.

Instead of receiving care, Salva was booked. The next morning, she was taken to a hospital. The baby, delivered at approximately 15 weeks, did not survive.

Schnell and his partner were fired for their actions. (Salva received $750,000 in a settlement.) Though he lost his job, Schnell continues to work in law enforcement. The New York Times reported Saturday that Schnell was hired by another police force in Missouri before being hired in Independence.

The Times story describes other instances when police officers who lost jobs in one jurisdiction have found work in others. The story begins with Sean Sullivan, who in 2004 was caught kissing a 10-year-old girl while working as a police officer in Oregon. The following year, he was named the police chief in Cedar Vale, Kansas (population: 579).

According to the Times, Sullivan was investigated in Cedar Vale for a suspected sexual relationship with a girl and eventually convicted on other charges. He is now in prison in the state of Washington.

“Gypsy cops,” as they’re sometimes called, continue to wear badges because there is no system in place to weed them out. From the Times:

[A] lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies, opposition from police executives and unions, and an absence of federal guidance have meant that in many cases police departments do not know the background of prospective officers if they fail to disclose a troubled work history.

Cost is also a factor. By hiring an officer with experience (however poorly researched), police departments can avoid the expense of sending a recruit to an academy, the Times story notes.

Schnell is not the only police officer to catch on in Independence after leaving another department under a cloud. The Intercept reported that Timothy Runnels, the former Independence officer who tased a teenager 23 times during a 2014 traffic stop, had resigned from the Kansas City, Missouri, police department under threat of termination in 2010.

Runnels was sentenced to four years in prison for violating the civil rights of Bryce Masters, the teen driver.