Constitutional challenge of KC Board of Police Commissioners to go forward, judge rules
A lawsuit filed by civil rights leader Gwendolyn Grant challenging the constitutionality of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners will move forward, according to a news release from the Urban League of Greater Kansas City.
A Jackson County judge this week denied a motion by the police board to dismiss the suit.
Grant, arguing on behalf of Kansas City taxpayers, contends that the Board of Police Commissioners system constitutes “‘Taxation Without Representation” in violation of Missouri’s Hancock Amendment.
Moreover, the system violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution because it was implemented for a discriminatory purposes and has a discriminatory impact on Missouri’s Black population, the plaintiff argues.
Although she’s pleased with the court’s ruling, the real fight begins now, Grant, who is president and CEO of the Urban League, said in the news release.
“Since the beginning of the Civil War, citizens in Missouri’s two most heavily African-American cities have been singled out and stripped of local control over their own police,” she said. “It is amazing and sad that this system — which treats Missouri’s African American population centers one way and all other communities another — persists to this day.
“The Court’s denial of the Police Board’s motion to dismiss clears the way for a long-overdue constitutional challenge to this antiquated system, and the antiquated values it represents.”
On Tuesday, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said on Twitter he agreed with Grant that state control of the police department violates the U.S. Constitution.
“Local people should have a say in how all government works, including and particularly, law enforcement,” Lucas said. “I commend her and others who have continued asking important questions in a system that undermines the voice of Kansas Citians, particularly our minority residents.”
A relic of a more corrupt era, Kansas City’s police are overseen by a board of commissioners, with four of five members appointed by the governor. The fifth seat is filled by the mayor. The city’s police department is the only remaining one in the state and the only major city in the nation to operate this way.
As a result, the police board and the Kansas City Police Department are responsive to the wishes of Missouri governors, who are exclusively white, and not to the residents of Kansas City, the Urban League said.
The police board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Police board pro-slavery history
The original police board system was conceived by Missouri Gov. Claiborne Jackson, who was pro-slavery, on the eve of the Civil War, to control the U.S. Arsenal in St. Louis, the Urban League said. Controlling the St. Louis police was a step to controlling the arsenal.
The first “Metropolitan Police Bill” was introduced in the Missouri legislature in March 1861 under which the St. Louis police force was controlled by a board appointed by the governor. The same system was implemented in 1874 in Kansas City, according to the Urban League.
The police board systems have been used in only two cities in Missouri — Kansas City and St. Louis — which have Missouri’s highest Black populations.
Grant contends that Missouri’s Black population is disproportionately deprived of the opportunity to have control over the police in their communities because of the police board system, which violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Fight over funding, accountability
Grant, as a Kansas City taxpayer, brought her claim under the Hancock Amendment after a failed attempt last year by Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and the city council to assert more control over the police budget.
By law, a minimum of 20% of Kansas City’s general revenue must be spent on police. The police board, however, consistently requests and receives more. She contends the compulsion of funding above 20% of the city’s revenue violates the Hancock Amendment.
Grant alleges the police board doesn’t give Kansas Citians a say in how hundreds of millions of dollars are spent, which is “Taxation without Representation,” in violation of Missouri laws.
This year, lawmakers advanced an amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would give them power for the next three years to increase the minimum level of funding Kansas City must provide to police. That change needs voters across the state to approve the amendment.
Lawmakers also passed a bill raising the percentage of Kansas City’s general revenue that must be spent on police to 25%. The measure still needs Gov. Mike Parson’s signature.
The struggle over who should control the Kansas City Police Department has gone on for decades. The city wants some accountability on how money is spent and a say in crime prevention programs after the city has seen the second highest number of homicides last year and a record number the year before.
Civil rights and faith-based groups have also been critical of the department in its handling of excessive use of force.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 9:12 AM.
