Ex-Lincoln officer alleges city fired him for raising concerns of misconduct at LPD (2024)

Another former Lincoln police officer has sued the city, alleging he was fired in retaliation for raising concerns about misconduct within the department, which included sexual harassment and assaults by male employees and a marginalization of female officers who are discouraged from reporting it.

"There are many fine police officers and great investigators at LPD. But there is a subculture of sexual misconduct, which police and city leadership have ignored,"Luke Bonkiewicz said Tuesday.

He said it was crushing to learn it existed at his police department.

"When I raised awareness about sexual misconduct, I was punished," Bonkiewicz said.

LPD leadership talked to him about his attitude and tried to put false information in his annual review, he said.

Once a visible part of the Lincoln Police Department, working in part as a public information officer, he was moved to education and personnel in 2021 and then transferred back to the street in January 2022.

Bonkiewicz— who received a Mayor's Award of Excellence in 2014 for studying LPD's mental health referral program and in 2018 was named a National Institute of Justice LEADS Scholar for his work using scientific evidence in evidence-based policing— was suspended without pay on Feb. 8, 2022.

Then-Chief Teresa Ewins did not refer to him by name, but issued a statement two days later, saying: "I received information that would indicate an employee with this department did not fully and accurately provide information to an Internal Affairs investigator."

Then came March 31, 2022.

"Finally, they terminated me. It's the very definition of retaliation," Bonkiewicz said.

On Tuesday, T.J. McDowell, the chief of staff for Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, declined to comment directly on the lawsuit, but he said: "The City of Lincoln is committed to ensuring a culture free from harassment and discrimination."

McDowell said community relationships are fundamental to Lincoln’s community policing model and continue to be a top priority for LPD and for this administration.

"In her short time as acting (chief) and now as Chief of Police, (Michon) Morrow has demonstrated this value by engaging with over 100 organizations across the community," he said.

Bonkiewiczsaid the lawsuit has three goals: raise awareness about the sexual misconduct problems at LPD; motivate Gaylor Baird and Morrow to institute meaningful change at LPD; and to make LPD a safe place for all employees.

He said if the city would reinstate him and allow him to help bring about change within the department, he would drop his lawsuit with minimal payment to his attorneys for their time.

"But the mayor has refused to even meet with me to discuss this option,"Bonkiewiczsaid.

In a 48-page complaint filed at Lancaster County District Court late Monday, Bonkiewicz' attorney, Kelly Brandon, said nine months after his termination, Bonkiewicz sent an email to the Lincoln City Council begging them to intervene.

He said in a meeting with Ewins she discounted pending lawsuits against the city filed by female officers alleging sexual harassment and misconduct within the department because they hadn't yet gone to court.

And she became upset when Bonkiewicz asked her to consider a project to explore the experiences of women in policing, a project that would have included interviews of female officers who had been sexually assaulted by male officers.

He said Ewins called it a "fishing expedition" and an insult to every male officer in the department and said those types of things happened in the '70s and '80s. Not today.

Bonkiewicz told City Council members they may wonder why Ewins, a woman and member of the LGBTQ+ community, would tolerate such conduct. But for many police officers, he said, "protecting the badge and the department is more important than other aspects of their identity."

He said under Ewins' leadership, LPD's legal adviser had referred to alleged incidents of sexual misconduct as "urban legends," and Ewins had instituted a policy prohibiting employees from recording each other, preventing officers' attempts to have evidence to back up their claims.

"I have tried to work within the system," he said. "Nothing has changed. In fact, it's gotten worse."

In the letter to the City Council, Bonkiewicz said he was born and raised in Lincoln, it's his home.

"And I have serious concerns about the future of policing in my community because of Chief Ewins’ egregiously poor leadership," he said, asking the council to review her performance as police chief.

Bonkiewicz got no response, though said he did later speak with one city councilman.

Ewins continued on as chief until she resigned in July 2023.

Last fall, Bonkiewicz asked to meet with the mayor to discuss continued sex discrimination at LPD and potential solutions.

She declined a meeting.

McDowell, the city spokesman, said on Sept. 22, the city offered him a meeting with McDowell and then-Acting Chief of Police Morrow. It was declined.

In the lawsuit filed late Monday, Bonkiewicz's attorney, Brandon, said: "Mayor Gaylor Baird has turned a blind eye to LPD’s unlawful conduct and to the individuals whose lives and careers have been devastated by it."

The complaint alleged the same of Ewins, the former chief, who currently is among 32 applicants to be the next Chief of Police in Austin, Texas.

"Luke loved his career as an officer and scholar and only sought to improve conditions for his fellow officers," she said. "Defendants deprived the citizens of Lincoln of an outstanding police officer simply to punish Luke for his courageous support of female employees who were subjected to discrimination and harassment."

Laura Stokey, Angela Sands, Erin Spilker, Sarah Khalil, Melissa Ripley and Sarah Williams also have filed lawsuits, all of which are pending but the one filed by Williams, which the city agreed to settle by giving $65,000 to Williams, who left to work at the Omaha Police Department.