KCPD captain who appeared to work security for Taylor Swift is retiring. What’s next?
A Kansas City police captain — and husband of Police Chief Stacey Graves — who accompanied Taylor Swift at the Kansas City Chiefs game in Green Bay, Wisconsin, will retire from the department at the end of the year, KCPD officials confirmed Wednesday.
Capt. Daniel Graves appeared to be working off-duty when he showed up in photographs and videos walking behind the singer as she entered Lambeau Field on Dec. 3 before the Chiefs played the Packers. KCPD said Graves was not working in a law enforcement capacity, but it was unclear whether he was working as a private security guard for Swift.
Since she began dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce over the summer, Swift has attended six Chiefs games, four of them at GEHA Field at Arrowhead. She always has a security team with her when she is in public.
Sgt. Jacob Becchina, a police department spokesman, said he spoke with Graves, who confirmed he is retiring Dec 31.
“This has been his plan all along,” Becchina said. “Since last December, he planned to stay alongside the Chief for her first year.”
Graves has worked for the police department since 1996 and is currently assigned to the investigations bureau. His wife became police chief last December.
Becchina said Graves was not available to speak to The Star.
It was unclear whether Graves violated police department policy when he accompanied Swift in Green Bay. The department policy restricts officers’ outside employment, including private security and off-duty work at venues such as Arrowhead.
The policy permits officers to work within the city limits of Kansas City and does not allow them “to act as private security personnel.”
Soon after Graves appeared with Swift, Becchina said the captain was not on duty or working in a law enforcement or police capacity or authority, and was not performing any KCPD function.
He referred any questions to Swift and her representatives.
As is typical in the entertainment industry, representatives for Swift do not comment publicly about her security details.
Her management company in Tennessee was unable to take calls Wednesday, a recorded office message said, and did not return The Star’s request for comment.
Graves was not seen with Swift last Sunday when the team played the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead. But several plainclothes security officers were with her when she walked in.
KCPD Maj. Ryan Mills also accompanied Swift as she stepped into an elevator that led to a suite.
Becchina said Graves would have to be the one to answer questions about his plans. Becchina said he would check to see whether “he wants to provide anything further,” adding, “his plans are his business.”
Since Graves has already been seen with Swift’s protection detail, it would not be a stretch to consider that he might find a new job with the superstar, who is spending more time in Kansas City while she is on a break from her Eras Tour.
Most bodyguards — known in the industry as close protection agents or executive protection — hired by celebrities are men, many of them former military or police officers, the CEO of one protection company told The Hollywood Reporter last year.
Working for a high-end security firm, THR reported, requires background checks, firearm permits and first aid and medical skills.
Former law enforcement officers often have to be retrained because “it’s a different job that they have, a different mission,” Kenneth Bombace, a former Army captain and owner of Global Threat Solutions, told THR.
“If somebody poses a threat and has a gun, police run to them and they want to meet that threat, subdue them and bring them to justice. In the protection business, that’s not our job,” Bombace said. “We just want to get our principal somewhere safe, as fast as we can.”