“Federal prosecutors in Kansas have launched a criminal grand jury investigation into a retired Kansas City police detective who is the subject of long-swirling allegations that he ‘exploited and terrorized’ Black residents of the city’s north end for decades, CNN has learned.

“Roger Golubski is accused of being ‘a dirty cop who used the power of his badge to exploit vulnerable black women, including black women who worked as prostitutes,’ according to a 2019 civil complaint filed by a man exonerated of double murder charges investigated by Golubski. The veteran detective, who retired from the Kansas City, Kansas, police department in 2010 at the rank of captain, was also accused of being on the payroll of a local drug kingpin and of framing people for crimes they did not commit.

“The unproven allegations have roiled the community for years and recently attracted the attention of hip-hop mogul Jay-Z. The rapper’s social justice-oriented group, Team Roc, took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post last week calling the alleged police corruption in Kansas City ‘one of the worst examples of abuse of power in U.S. history.’  Golubski, 69, has not been charged with any crimes nor faced any discipline in connection with the highly public — and highly inflammatory — allegations against him. During a civil court deposition last year, he repeatedly invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination, pleading the Fifth over and over again. An attorney representing Golubski in the civil case declined comment, citing the pending litigation.

“While the city’s newspaper and police reform activists have been clamoring for action, prosecutors have been quietly calling witnesses to testify about Golubski since at least August, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.”