KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former detective in the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department is part of a federal investigation.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, a KCKPD spokesperson admitted that the department has responded to FBI inquiries over the last two years regarding allegations made against Roger Golubski.
“Since 2019, the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department has been responding to subpoenas from the FBI regarding allegations made against Roger Golubski," the spoksperson said. "Despite many inquiries from both the public and media over the past three years, we did not disclose our cooperation with the investigation out of concern that it could interfere with the work of federal authorities.”
The statement follows a CNN investigation released Thursday that federal grand jurors are looking into the past of of Roger Golubski.
In its report, CNN said it learned that the criminal investigation is the result of reports that Golubski exploited and terrorized Black residents in Kansas City, Kansas.
In a statement Thursday afternoon,
Golubski, who retired in 2010, has been the focus of several long-standing accusations, but has not faced charges in any of the instances.
Earlier this fall, Team Roc, the philanthropic arm of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation entertainment company, filed a lawsuit against KCKPD seeking investigatory records associated with Golubski.
That lawsuit was followed by a full page ad in the Washington Post that tasked the U.S. Department of Justice to launch an investigation into the department.
CNN’s report said that former KCKPD Chief Terry Zeigler is among witnesses who have testified in front of prosecutors. Zeigler told CNN he spent two hours last month testifying before grand jurors at a federal courthouse in Topeka.
“They were trying to understand how I didn’t know or was I trying to cover up things about Roger that I knew,” Zeigler told CNN. “I don’t mind talking and telling people because I don’t have anything to hide.”
The Midwest Innocence Project, which partnered with Team Roc in the Washington Post ad, tweeted Thursday they were encouraged to read CNN's report and hopeful for results.
"We have heard of investigations for years, but what the community deserves is justice," the organization wrote.
Unified Government of Wyandotte County, and Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor David Alvey released a statement late Thursday afternoon in which he further acknowledged his government's cooperation in the federal investigation since 2019.
"The Unified Government (UG) has been cooperating with various federal agency inquiries into these matters since 2019, providing any and all information requested by appropriate federal authorities. In order to protect the integrity of this investigation, the UG has not commented publicly on the status or content of these inquiries.
The UG will continue to assist federal, state, and local authorities on any external investigations or inquiries involving the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department (KCKPD), providing any and all information requested. I encourage the community to also assist by providing any new or relevant information they may have involving any unsolved cases or other matters for review.
I want to assure our community that the Unified Government will continue to assist authorities in their investigation. Our community deserves that the truth be known and justice be done, no matter how or when it occurs."
More2, a Kansas City-based social advocacy group, said in a statement it was "elated" to learn of the federal investigation.
"Back in May of 2018, MORE2 was the first to publicly call for an investigation of both Golubski and the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, which allowed this systemic abuse to occur unchecked for decades," the organization said in the statement.
The organization said it believes "many more victims remain" and that the impact to the community "continues to run deep."
