KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, City Auditor's Office released an audit Thursday regarding on-street parking enforcement downtown.
The city opted to work with KCPD to increase enforcement of on-street parking regulations in 2018.
KCPD committed to hiring a minimum of 10 full-time parking enforcement officers, or PCOs, as part of that agreement.
The audit found that KCPD has failed to meet the staffing minimum agreed to in 2018.
Instead, the department had just two parking enforcement employees assigned to downtown as of January 2021.
KCPD budgets from 2019-2022 show almost $1.7 million appropriated for downtown PCOs.
The City Auditor's Office recommends KCMO take back parking enforcement control, outsource enforcement or identify other options.
According to a KCPD spokesperson, the department currently employs eight PCOs who are dispatched across the city.
"We are aware of this audit and the information in it," KCPD said in a statement. "We are currently in discussions with the city and maintain a dialog through our City Hall Liaison Captain regarding parking control operations. These discussions are ongoing at this time."
