KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There may be a court fight brewing over control of the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.
After a brief closed-door session of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC) meeting, Mayor Quinton Lucas said he welcomes litigation which would challenge his plan to shift funding within KCPD.
Lucas made it clear this effort is in part to gain more control of KCPD from BOPC.
"We welcome any type of litigation, the reason being because I actually think the whole structure right now violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution," Lucas said.
Board members are appointed by the governor.
"I've said a few different times that I'm not a supporter of the state control system. I think it has led to inefficiencies, I think it's led to quagmires like this one, again and again, year after year," Lucas said. "This is not the first time city council has had some concerns at budget time. You hear people say how do we have our community policing officers? How do we have neighborhood officers? How do we have more crisis intervention team officers?"
Last week, the mayor and nine other council members passed two measures which would reallocate more than $42 million from KCPD's budget into a new, locally administered community services fund the police department could access.
Critics of the plan, including Police Chief Rick Smith, said they were disheartened not to be more involved in the formation of the mayor’s plan.
"I can say that we were all caught off guard, so it was information that the chief did not have previously. And I think that's part of the reason right now why there's a delay in commenting," said KCPD Capt. Leslie Morgan after the BOPC meeting Monday.
Sunshine Law attorney Bernie Rhodes said the BOPC meeting Monday violated Missouri law because there was no agenda item nor a reason given for the meeting to be closed to the public.
As a result, it's unclear what happened at that meeting.
By Monday, many of the mayor's critics said his plan amounted to defunding the police.
In a Facebook post, Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) President Brad Lemon claimed the shift in funding put 450 police officer jobs in jeopardy because 92% of KCPD's budget goes to personnel.
Additionally, Lemon claims because KCPD's budget was cut May 1 by $12 million compared to last year, the city council is actually defunding KCPD by $54 million.
Speaking with reporters before the BOPC meeting, Lucas reiterated the plan actually increases money for KCPD, including funding for a new recruiting class.
“The math’s not that hard,” Lucas said. “The folks that are trying to scare you, are trying to scare the folks of Kansas City. This is not about laying off officers, none of that is happening. To the extent that's being said right now, it's fear mongering and unnecessary. All officers are still going to be on the street, nobody is getting laid off, no staff are getting cut, there is more money for positions."
However, KCPD leadership is skeptical about how the reallocation might affect the department's manpower.
"I think it remains to be seen. I think this is all very real discussion and I don't know what it will look like in the end, but these are the things the chief is faced with now," Morgan said. "We're going to have to figure out."
Additionally, for years, KCPD officers and the FOP have claimed there's not enough officers on the streets to do the job properly.
In 2017, more than 95% of KCPD officers surveyed for a staffing study said the number of officers on the streets is not keeping up with the city's needs.
"I feel safe in saying that it is still the general feeling. We have more and more leaving, we're not able to fill those spots. So, I think that's the general consensus," Captain Morgan said.
What police commissioners might do as a result of the adopted ordinances isn't immediately clear.
However, on Friday, BOPC Commissioner Nathan Garrett told 41 Action News Anchor Caitlin Knute the next steps could include legal action.
"Yes, I am very concerned, and I want the men and women of the police department to know that this board of police commissioners has its back. And I will tell you we will do everything in our power to address this," Garrett said Friday.
Other than social media comments, the FOP has declined requests for interviews on the reallocation of KCPD money.
That labor group is waiting on management, namely Chief Smith, to comment first before taking questions about the changes.
