It’s been nearly a year since hundreds of people took to the streets of Kansas City demanding change and reform with the Kansas City Police Department. Those protests continue today. They may look different, but many of the messages remain the same. A group of a few dozen gathered on Tuesday outside City Hall to call for local control of the KCPD and the resignation of police Chief Rick Smith.”We are still pushing.” organizer Pateisha Royal with More2 said. “We will fight until my last breath.” There have been incremental changes in the department over the course of the past 12 months. Police have outfitted every officer with body cameras and the police board has implemented some policy changes, like guidelines that limit the use of tear gas.”Those things are positives,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “Is it as far as it needs to be? Absolutely not.”During a protest in early June last year, Lucas signed onto a list of demands from protesters. Many of those demands remain incomplete. Lucas expressed his frustration and concern that Kansas City is falling behind its peer cities that have enacted more meaningful reform. “We are absolutely behind,” he said. “We started behind and we are only going further behind in the current system we have.”Those concerns are echoed by civil rights leaders in Kansas City. Last month, a coalition of seven organizations, including the Urban League, NAACP and Black Rainbow, called recent reforms made by KCPD “minuscule” and “ineffective.” The group also authored a list of more than a dozen demands. The top demand: the resignation of Smith.”He’s an obstructionist,” Urban League President and CEO Gwen Grant said. “We believe that he has to be held accountable for the racist culture inside the department.”A police spokesperson said Smith has no plans to resign. Lucas refuses to say whether or not he has confidence in Smith to lead the department. Instead, Lucas says his focus is on pushing for meaningful reform.”Tomorrow you can replace Quinton Lucas, Jean Peters-Baker, Smith, and if we don’t actually address long-term fundamental challenges both with public safety and accountability it won’t make a lick of difference,” he said.Grant contends Smith and the state-run Board of Police Commissioners both stand in the way of the demands made by the coalition.”We certainly are feeling a great deal of oppression from the state level and locally at the hands of the Board of Police Commissioners and Rick Smith,” she said.Gaining local control requires changing Missouri state law. The issue is a non-starter at the State Capitol in Jefferson City. Other avenues to change the law could be a statewide ballot initiative or a legal challenge. Mayor Lucas says he is exploring both options.”This is a rule that is long past its useful life,” he said. “I think it’s important for us to get back to that representative government that we see in the fire department, public works and everything else in Kanas City.”Lucas hinted that the fall of 2022 could be a good target for a statewide vote and he believes there is case law the could support a legal challenge in the near future.Activists say, regardless of the timeline, they will continue to fight for change in Kansas City.”We are here to promote justice,” Grant said. “We are not here to keep order.”
It’s been nearly a year since hundreds of people took to the streets of Kansas City demanding change and reform with the Kansas City Police Department. Those protests continue today. They may look different, but many of the messages remain the same.
A group of a few dozen gathered on Tuesday outside City Hall to call for local control of the KCPD and the resignation of police Chief Rick Smith.
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“We are still pushing.” organizer Pateisha Royal with More2 said. “We will fight until my last breath.”
There have been incremental changes in the department over the course of the past 12 months. Police have outfitted every officer with body cameras and the police board has implemented some policy changes, like guidelines that limit the use of tear gas.
“Those things are positives,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “Is it as far as it needs to be? Absolutely not.”
During a protest in early June last year, Lucas signed onto a list of demands from protesters. Many of those demands remain incomplete. Lucas expressed his frustration and concern that Kansas City is falling behind its peer cities that have enacted more meaningful reform.
“We are absolutely behind,” he said. “We started behind and we are only going further behind in the current system we have.”
Those concerns are echoed by civil rights leaders in Kansas City. Last month, a coalition of seven organizations, including the Urban League, NAACP and Black Rainbow, called recent reforms made by KCPD “minuscule” and “ineffective.” The group also authored a list of more than a dozen demands. The top demand: the resignation of Smith.
“He’s an obstructionist,” Urban League President and CEO Gwen Grant said. “We believe that he has to be held accountable for the racist culture inside the department.”
A police spokesperson said Smith has no plans to resign. Lucas refuses to say whether or not he has confidence in Smith to lead the department. Instead, Lucas says his focus is on pushing for meaningful reform.
“Tomorrow you can replace Quinton Lucas, Jean Peters-Baker, Smith, and if we don’t actually address long-term fundamental challenges both with public safety and accountability it won’t make a lick of difference,” he said.
Grant contends Smith and the state-run Board of Police Commissioners both stand in the way of the demands made by the coalition.
“We certainly are feeling a great deal of oppression from the state level and locally at the hands of the Board of Police Commissioners and Rick Smith,” she said.
Gaining local control requires changing Missouri state law. The issue is a non-starter at the State Capitol in Jefferson City. Other avenues to change the law could be a statewide ballot initiative or a legal challenge. Mayor Lucas says he is exploring both options.
“This is a rule that is long past its useful life,” he said. “I think it’s important for us to get back to that representative government that we see in the fire department, public works and everything else in Kanas City.”
Lucas hinted that the fall of 2022 could be a good target for a statewide vote and he believes there is case law the could support a legal challenge in the near future.
Activists say, regardless of the timeline, they will continue to fight for change in Kansas City.
“We are here to promote justice,” Grant said. “We are not here to keep order.”