‘Zero tolerance’: Clergy urge KC police board to hire chief who will root out racism
Nearly two dozen faith leaders on Monday urged the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners to hire a new police chief who will commit to fighting racism within and outside of the department.
Standing on the steps of the Kansas City Police Department, the clergy members again also called for a Justice Department probe into the force as well as local control of KCPD, which is overseen by the five-member board mostly appointed by Missouri’s governor.
“We talk about, as a community and around this country, that Black lives matter,” Pastor Cassandra Wainwright said. “But if Black lives don’t matter with our Black and African-American law enforcement officers, then how and where does Black lives matter?”
The faith leaders, including ones who have worked with KCPD on community initiatives, gathered in response to a yearlong Star investigation into racism within the police department, which published about a week ago. Black officers told the newspaper that white colleagues have called them racial slurs and made derogatory comments.
Black officers also told The Star that they are disciplined more harshly than their white peers, leading to a department that has fewer Black officers today than it did decades ago. Just 11.6% of cops are Black in a city that is 28% Black.
At the press conference, Rabbi Doug Alpert of Congregation Kol Ami said the next police chief should come from outside the department and work toward a culture in which there is “zero tolerance for racism and racist officers.”
“A culture and environment in which the next generation of Black kids will want to join the KCPD,” Alpert said. “We, our Black brothers and sisters in the KCPD, our Black neighborhoods, our entire city will be better for it.”
The Rev. Emanuel Cleaver III, senior pastor of St. James United Methodist Church, said it is time for the police board to look at “restructuring” what he described as the current but “old” model of the department. He compared KCPD’s structure to Blockbuster, the video rental company that has closed nearly all of its stores in light of changing times.
“To bring a new police chief into a broken system is like putting new wine in old wineskins,” Cleaver said.
Mayor Quinton Lucas, the only elected member of the police board, showed up near the end of the press conference to listen to the concerns. He declined to comment to The Star but said he would send a statement later.
The Board of Police Commissioners did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Monday morning. The board has not issued any statements about The Star’s investigation.
Over the weekend, four former police board members — Alvin Brooks, Lisa Pelofsky, Stacey Daniels-Young and Karl Zobrist — issued a statement saying they were “shocked, saddened and disgusted” to learn how Black officers are treated in the department.
Days earlier, local civil rights leaders renewed calls for a DOJ investigation into KCPD. They said they would send The Star’s investigation to the DOJ and criticized the police board for remaining silent on the newspaper’s findings.
Sgt. Jake Becchina, a police spokesman, said Monday that KCPD strives to be “inclusive and treat people fairly and equally.”
“We believe in the integrity of this organization and are committed to valuing all members as well as the community we serve,” Becchina wrote in an email.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 11:56 AM.
