Despite emergency health order, Kansas City police gather without masks at crime scene
Despite a new health order requiring first responders to wear masks, several members of the Kansas City Police Department were not wearing them when they congregated with a group of more than a dozen officers at a shooting scene Friday.
Under new public health guidance that went into effect Friday morning, police officers, as well as first responders and other essential workers in Kansas City, are required to wear face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Previously, they had been exempted from having to wear masks.
The officers without masks were among a large group that gathered at the scene of a homicide Friday morning in the 5700 block of Indiana Avenue. Among them were detectives, sergeants and a homicide supervisor. Many of the police department members were clustered in small groups talking. Others among them, including a deputy chief, were wearing masks.
A Kansas City police spokesman said earlier this week that the department would comply with the city health order, as well as guidelines form the county, state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Asked on Friday about the scene on Indiana Avenue, Sgt. Jacob Becchina a police department spokesman, said supervisors were supposed to ensure that all officers have the necessary equipment and comply with the emergency order.
“All members have been given direction to comply with the emergency order for wearing masks and social distancing,” Becchina said.
Morgan Said, a spokeswoman for Mayor Quinton Lucas, said the emergency order is a directive that all officers wear masks.
“Mayor Lucas has spoken with leadership and has reiterated the need for compliance from all to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and for the safety of our officers and community,” she said in an email to The Star.
The new mask order comes as the Kansas City area is seeing a surge in new COVID-19 cases.
Nineteen deaths were reported in the metro area Friday, the highest number of new deaths reported since Oct. 24. Three were in Kansas City, four were in Jackson County, six were in Johnson County and six were in Wyandotte County, raising the metro’s total to 940.
The metropolitan area added more than 1,200 COVID-19 cases Friday. That sent the weekly average for new cases to a record level for the third consecutive day.
The University of Kansas Health System reported 78 patients hospitalized for the virus, up one from Thursday.
Of the 78 patients, 34 were in the intensive care unit.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has declined to issue a statewide mask mandate, even after the Missouri Hospital Association urged him to. The medical association said the requirement was necessary because the virus has placed an enormous strain on hospitals and medical providers.
However, Parson said the new guidance is designed to support local authorities to limit activity or require face coverings. He emphasized that people must accept and adhere to recommended steps or the coronavirus will continue to spread.
On Wednesday, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued an executive order imposing a new statewide mask mandate. Governors in Kentucky, Iowa and Illinois are requiring residents in their states to wear masks.
In Kansas City, the police department hasn’t gone unscathed from the virus. Last week, Police Chief Rick Smith said the department was seeing infections drastically rising from a “large outbreak” that began the week before.
That outbreak left 18 officers infected with COVID-19 and 54 others in quarantine. They were among more than 130 officers who have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. The department has more than 1,300 sworn officers.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 4:39 PM.
