Kansas City plans to double police presence for World Cup with outside officers
As preparations for the 2026 World Cup continue across Kansas City, the Kansas City Police Department is eyeing a significant temporary expansion.
The department plans to staff about double its current force of officers during the international soccer tournament, according to Major Leslie Foreman, commander of KCPD’s Central Patrol Division.
Foreman discussed KCPD’s staffing plan for the World Cup at a June meeting among Central Patrol Division officers, city staffers and Kansas City residents.
“We will have probably double the amount of officers that we normally have,” Foreman said. “Coming from other states, coming, obviously, from the metro area.”
The Kansas City Police Department declined to share the exact number of officers coming to Kansas City, the exact planned length of their stay and the exact organizations which have already agreed to send officers to the city.
“It is too early for us to be able to provide you exact numbers or agencies that are assisting with the World Cup,” Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a KCPD spokesperson, told The Star. “There is still a lot of planning needed and there is a ton of work being done. Our special projects commander is working diligently with her team and several event coordinator partners to ensure we make this an enjoyable, safe and well-celebrated event for all.”
Six World Cup games — including a quarterfinal match — will be played at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium next summer between June 11 and July 19, with hundreds of thousands of tourists expected to pour into the metro for extended stays.
KCPD has been planning for the June and July 2026 soccer spectacular for more than a year and a half, Foreman said.
“We’ve never had anything this big,” Foreman said. “Obviously we’re in new territory, but also, we’re really good at planning big events.”
Foreman said that several police agencies across multiple states have already committed to sending officers to Kansas City during the event. She said, however, that local officers with other regular patrol duties will not necessarily be sent to Arrowhead Stadium during the World Cup.
“Some will still be doing their regular thing, because life goes on outside of FIFA,” Foreman said.
Some of the increase in force could also come from the current police academy class at KCPD. Foreman said that close to 100 candidates are currently enrolled in the academy, where recruit classes of 12-15 potential officers are more standard.
“Obviously, we want this to be a success,” Foreman said. “This is our city on show.”
Foreman indicated that the public safety plan for the event could change depending on which teams will play or have base camps here. Some rivalries between international fanbases are historically more intense than others, Foreman said.
Highly publicized brawls have marked some World Cups in past years, during both games and qualifiers. Most recently, during a qualifying match between Brazil and Argentina for the 2023 World Cup, police in Rio de Janeiro police were sent into the stadium with batons to quell several fights.
Foreman also said that KCPD already pulls officers from other parts of the metro to fill out positions in five entertainment districts — including Westport and Power & Light — on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from May through October. About 30 extra officers are staffed those nights, and some are tasked with crackdowns on ATVs, motorcycles and other vehicles used in street racing, Foreman said.
“A big piece of what the entertainment plan is dealing with every weekend is street racers,” Foreman said. “We do a whole lot of work trying to stop-stick vehicles, doing surveillance.”
The Central division has also upped its foot patrol from four officers to six, some of whom now have evening hours and are on duty until 10 p.m., Foreman said.
