Neighborhood association joins community groups wanting KCPD chief Rick Smith gone
The board of the Indian Mound Neighborhood Association, which represents a neighborhood of about 10,000 in Historic Northeast, called for Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith to resign.
In a lengthy letter posted Thursday, the Indian Mound board outlined a number of reforms for the Kansas City Police Department, including embracing a move to local control of the police department, establishing a civilian oversight board and independent review of incidents of police shootings and use of force.
“Sadly, we have lost faith in Chief Richard Smith after repeated failures over the past two and a half years, and thus request his immediate resignation so we can continue to work to address crime in our community,” the letter said.
Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On June 4, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and members of the Board of Police Commissioners approved new measures for KCPD that touch on some of the Indian Mound board’s proposed reforms.
Those included KCPD reversing its policy of withholding probable cause statements about shootings by police officers to county prosecuting attorneys and a review and restriction of its use of tear gas and other projectiles.
In a statement, KCPD said that local control is an issue that would involve legislative changes by the Missouri General Assembly. It also said the KCPD has an oversight board in the form of the Office of Community Complaints.
Earlier this month, several groups, including the Urban League of Kansas City, the Kansas City chapter of the NAACP and the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equality, asked that Smith resign because they think he is not committed to reforming policing in Kansas City.
At that time, Nathan Garrett, a member of the Kansas City Police Board of Commissioners, voiced his support for Smith.
“We take the concerns and ideas expressed seriously and will give them fair and impartial consideration; however, I support Chief Smith and believe he is doing an admirable job amidst nearly impossible circumstances,” Garrett said.
Smith has been in the spotlight in Kansas City during a nationwide summer of protests following several incidents of police brutality against Black people, including the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, both at the hands of police officers.
Kansas City has its own history with shooting deaths of Black men under controversial circumstances, including Ryan Stokes, Terrance Bridges, Cameron Lamb and Donnie Sanders.
As Kansas City joined national demonstrations in late May and into June, protesters were at times confronted by officers using tear gas and pepper spray; police said they were struck with projectiles. Later protests were held largely without incident.
The Indian Mound letter said the neighborhood association would end its Crime Watch groups that the board said was “propping up a culture of ‘criminality’ that pits neighbors against neighbors based on biases and assumptions.”
Manny Abarca, president of the Indian Mound Neighborhood Association, said the move to disconnect from Crime Watch was not meant to discourage neighborhood residents from calling police when circumstances necessitate it.
“I basically said we are going to focus our resources elsewhere and not make crime the focus of the neighborhood association,” he told The Star.
About a year ago, the Indian Mound Neighborhood Association wrote a letter to the KCPD criticizing its involvement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s arrest of Florencio Millan-Vazquez.
Abarca said the Indian Mound board wasn’t critical of individual officers.
“That is why I felt it was important for us as a board to address leadership,” Abarca said.
