KC police officer should be fired & decertified, civil rights group says
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- Civil rights coalition demands firing and POST decertification of Officer Blayne Newton.
- Coalition urges KCPD board to adopt termination timeline, policy reform and written response.
- Letter challenges Hall nomination and highlights lack of east-of-Troost representation on board.
Members of the Urban Council spoke this week about the need for emergency police accountability following a string of incidents, including calling for the termination of a Kansas City police officer who has killed three people on duty since joining the department in 2017.
Gwendolyn Grant, CEO and president of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said during a Monday press conference that the coalition of civil rights organizations sent a letter to the Board of Police Commissioners not only calling for the termination of Officer Blayne Newton, but that his peace officer’s certification be rescinded.
“The question is, should this officer continue to carry a badge and a gun under the authority of KCPD and the state of Missouri, and our answer is a resounding no, he should not,” Grant said.
The open letter, which was released to the media during a press conference earlier this week, reads that the standard for officers is fitness for duty, not whether a prosecutor filed charges.
Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced in January that her office could not pursue charges against Newton for a June 2023 shooting that left two dead and a third injured. Johnson said in a release that she could not pursue a criminal charge, citing Missouri law.
However, Johnson’s release cited her concerns over Newton’s continued employment with the office and said that those concerns had been shared with Police Department leadership.
Grant said that the organizations understood why those charges could not be pursued, but now it was time to turn their attention to the Police Department itself.
“We have numerous infractions that we can see in the media, yet you take no action,” Grant said. “So in this letter, we believe that you know the standard for an officer to keep his or her job should be a fitness for duty, and it should not be a situation where he’s able to retain that job simply because the prosecutor could not file charges under the rule of law.”
The letter calls for Newton to also be decertified by the Peace Officers Standards and Training Committee of Missouri, so that he could not work in law enforcement in the state moving forward.
Grant said they are also asking for internal police reform in the Police Department to change policies that could call for the termination of officers based on certain criteria.
The letter cites those criteria as cumulative patterns of force, repeated critical incidents and escalating risk; demonstrated inability to exercise restraint and judgment consistent with constitutional policing; and the officer’s total record as a peace officer, including foreseeable impact on public trust, safety outcomes and civil liability.
The coalition of organizations’ letter also requests a written response from the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, asking for an action plan and timeline for termination proceedings, confirmation that they will submit a request for POST decertification and a timeline for reviewing and revising discipline policies.
“We’re asking them as a responsible employer to have strong disciplinary procedures for officers who do not act within the confines of the law or their policies,” Grant said. “They have the power to change their personnel policies, their disciplinary policies, and to address the concerns that we have.”
No on Kehoe’s pick for KC police board
The coalition also mentioned an open letter they submitted to Missouri Senator Maggie Nurrenbern, a Democrat from Kansas City, after she announced that she would not sponsor the nomination of Heather Hall for appointment to the police board.
The letter urges Nurrenbern to continue to oppose Hall’s nomination.
Nurrenbern, in the letter obtained by The Star, pointed directly at Kansas City’s unusual lack of control over police operations for her refusal to confirm Hall. The Police Department is controlled by a five-member board, with four members appointed by the governor. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas occupies the fifth spot.
The letter from the Urban Council reads that the police board holds extraordinary authority over policing, including disciplinary oversight, policy direction and exercise of power that directly affects civil liberties.
“Commissioners must therefore be independent, objective and committed, first and foremost, to the rule of law and equal justice - not to institutional loyalty or political alignment,” the letter reads. “Ms. Hall’s record raises serious concerns on these points.”
Hall’s appointment has brought criticism from police accountability advocates who question her objectivity because she is married to a former Kansas City police sergeant.
In its letter, the coalition said it is “deeply troubled” by the continued lack of representation on the police board from communities east of Troost Avenue, which has been considered the city’s racial dividing line. The letter highlighted the disproportionate level of policing enforcement that occurs in those neighborhoods east of Troost Avenue.
This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 6:01 PM.
