All Kansas City police shootings to be reviewed by outside agencies, mayor says
Outside agencies will now review every police shooting and major use-of-force complaint against officers in Kansas City, one of several measures announced Thursday by Mayor Quinton Lucas.
That includes shootings in which an officer’s use of force appears justified, he said.
“Every one,” Lucas told reporters at City Hall.
It was one of the new oversight measures the Board of Police Commissioners, which Lucas sits on, approved Thursday during a closed, special meeting, according to the mayor’s office.
Complaints against officers, if they reach a certain level of severity, will be referred to one of four relevant county prosecutor’s offices, the FBI or federal prosecutors, Lucas said.
“We will to continue to work out procedures as to which abuses or alleged abuses of excessive force may rise to that level,” he said. “But that is the step that we are taking now.”
The police department already has had, since 2015, an agreement with federal officials and prosecutors that FBI agents will help investigate some officer-involved shootings and excessive force complaints against Kansas City police officers.
The Kansas City Police Department is also examining its use of tear gas and other projectiles. The police board will provide an update on potential policy changes related to tear gas at its next public meeting June 16.
The department will also reverse its current apparent policy of not sending probable cause statements to county prosecutors reviewing police shootings, Lucas said.
Earlier this year, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker raised concerns about the department’s decision to withhold said statements in two incidents involving officers.
During the news conference, Lucas noted that Smith continues to lead the police department. Earlier this week, several civil rights groups called on Smith to resign.
Mentioning the debate over local control, Lucas also said the police department will now present a weekly report to the City Council to inform residents about its ongoing community engagement efforts.
The announcement came as demonstrators continued to protest police brutality and other issues in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis.
Lucas called the measures but “one step in creating a more equitable community for all our residents.”
“I have spent significant time listening to Kansas Citians this week, who all share this message: we’re tired of waiting for change,” Lucas said in a statement after the news conference. “I hear these concerns. We must do better.”
Lucas on Thursday also pardoned Roderick Reed, who was convicted of a city ordinance for failing to move his car last year while videotaping police officers forcibly arrest a black transgender woman.
The mayor signed the order, he said, so citizens know they “have a right to film police conduct.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 4:57 PM.
