75 Kansas City area faith leaders to demand at City Hall an end of police brutality
A group of 75 religious leaders from the Kansas City area have said they will hold a news conference Wednesday morning at City Hall to demand an end to police brutality.
The news conference will be held at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 414 E. 12th Street, to address the issue of police abuse and to present a list of demands to restore trust and build relationships with the police department.
“We, members of the faith community, stand together to express our anger and frustration over the long history of tension between law enforcement and minority communities,” the release said.
The clergy said the protests that have been taking place since Friday night in Kansas City are the result of constant harassment of the minority community at the hands of police.
“Much of the distrust between the black community and the police department is a result of cultural insensitivity and systemic racism,” the release said. “We are tired of the police brutality and murders of unarmed black men.”
The clergy is demanding that police end all forms of excessive force, including the use of pepper spray on peaceful protesters. The group seeks the establishment of an independent police review board, body cameras for police officers and more community programs with the police department in higher-crime areas.
The faith community also is demanding that local control of the Kansas City Police Department be returned to the city.
Kansas City is the only city in Missouri, and one of the largest cities in the United States, that doesn’t have local control of its police department. Instead, the police department is controlled by a board appointed by the Missouri governor.
The news conference comes at a time when organizers of the Kansas City protests say the purpose of their protest message has gotten lost with images of protesters clashing with police.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 8:03 AM.
