REVEALED: Cop that carried out Kansas newspaper raid ‘was secretly recorded by a female officer making insulting and sexist comments before being reassigned to ‘dogwatch’ shift’, police sources claim

The police chief who raided a newspaper in a small Kansas town was secretly taped by a female officer who made abusive and sexist remarks after he was transferred to the “dogwatch” service. Kansas City star reported.

Gideon Cody, 54, was under internal investigation over allegations of sexist and inappropriate remarks directed at a female fellow officer.

Cody reportedly called the female officer the next day and acknowledged his unprofessional behavior on the phone.

Unbeknownst to Cody, his colleague had recorded the conversation before filing a complaint about a hostile work environment against him with the police, according to The Star.

Cody left the department after being transferred to “dogwatch” duty, an unwanted night shift in the Metro Patrol Division, usually assigned to junior officers.

When the investigation concluded, Cody was told that he would be demoted from chief to sergeant, according to the Star.

Cody did not accept the downgrade and after 24 years he left the department on April 22.

He became Chief of the Marion County Police Department in late April, after leaving the Kansas City Police Department over sexual misconduct allegations.

Cody led the raid on the Marion County Record on Friday, overseeing the execution of search warrants at the publisher’s and a city councilman’s home.

Police claimed the raid was carried out because they were concerned about ‘identity theft’, after the newspaper obtained evidence of a possible liquor license violation.

But the news operation was certain that the raid was a result of their investigation of Cody.

The identities of the police sources who spoke to the reporters were on the devices that were searched.

Cody, was accused by newspaper owner Eric Meyer of using “Hitler tactics” during the raid.

The publisher’s 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who co-owned the paper, died after the intense stress of the raid.

Her son Eric Meyer, 69, said his mother was devastated by the seizure of computers and servers from the Marion County Record offices.

The newspaper’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes, told KSHB 41 News that a forensic expert is on hand to investigate whether the seized computers and phones have been searched by police.

Marion County attorney Joel Ensey ruled Wednesday that there is “insufficient evidence” to justify why a search warrant was issued in the first place.

Despite the lack of equipment, the Marion County Record successfully went to press on Wednesday – with the front page reading, “Seized…But Not Silenced.”

Ensey said he reviewed the affidavits — which are still sealed from the public — and found they didn’t show enough probable grounds to loot the paper.

In addition to explaining why he decided to withdraw the search warrant signed by Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, Ensey also demanded that all items be returned to their owners.

The major development comes just two days after the Kansas Bureau of Investigations took over the investigation — sparking a First Amendment debate across the country.

However, revoking the search warrant retroactively will not undo the most tragic aspect of this unfolding Kansas story.

Newspaper co-owner Joan Meyer, 98, died from the grief and stress she felt after the entire Marion Police Department spent hours raiding her belongings in her home.

She was sobbing, unable to eat, and died in the middle of her sentence just 12 hours into the ordeal.

The Marion County Record received a “deluge of calls,” said Eric Meyer, who claimed Cody retired from his last police station to avoid demotion over sexual misconduct allegations.

Meyer said his paper was approached by Cody’s former colleagues about the allegations of sexual misconduct, but that the more than six anonymous sources ultimately never went public and reporters were unable to obtain Cody’s personnel file.

The Kansas City Police Department has declined to reveal whether Cody was charged with sexual misconduct while on the job.

Meyer said the identities of the sources were on the computer servers that Cody’s team seized.

“I may be paranoid that this has anything to do with it, but when people confiscate your computer, you’re usually a little bit paranoid,” Meyer told The Handbasket.

He told The Kansas City Star that they had not yet published the story because they had not yet completed their investigation.

“We didn’t publish it because we couldn’t get it to the point where we thought it was ready for publication,” Meyer said.

“(Cody) didn’t know who our sources were. He’s doing it now.’

And Meyer told AP, “This is the kind of thing that, you know, Vladimir Putin does, that Third World dictators do.

“This is World War II Gestapo tactics.”

The Marion County Police Department said on Saturday they were determined to enforce the law without commenting on the substance of the raid.

“The Marion Kansas Police Department believes it is the fundamental duty of the police to ensure the safety, security and well-being of all members of the public,” the department wrote on Facebook.

“This commitment must remain steadfast and unbiased, unaffected by political or media influence, to uphold the principles of justice, equal protection and the rule of law for all in the community.

“The victim is asking that we do everything the law allows to ensure that justice is served. The Marion Kansas Police Department will do no less.”