KC police chief calls for ‘drastic’ budget cuts: Hiring freeze, no overtime
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves is calling for “drastic” cuts to the department as a result of the budget imbalance, according to an internal police memo.
The memo, reviewed by The Star, comes just days after a closed-door vote by the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners that bumped Graves’ annual salary from $255,000 to $275,000.
“Effective immediately, all overtime not critical to basic operations is suspended,” the memo reads. “Any overtime that is necessary and results from on-call or extenuating circumstances must first be approved by their commander, manager or designee.”
The internal memo, which has alarmed local and state leaders, calls for sweeping cuts to ensure basic services within the department through the end of the fiscal year. In addition to suspending overtime, Graves paused all hiring for staff positions and halted all purchases for “non-critical supplies and equipment.”
Police Department officials said they were working to gather more information and would have comments later in the day when reached for comment.
A spokesperson for Mayor Quinton Lucas said that this is the first time that he has seen the Department-wide email and could not comment on it or the remedies that have been instituted.
“The mayor has long complained publicly and privately about the high volume of unbudgeted legal settlement expenses in the police budget in this and recent years,” spokesperson Megan Strickland said in a statement. “The mayor will work with the four state-appointed commissioners to address expense and cash flow issues.”
Strickland continued by saying that despite not being able to comment yet, Lucas shares disappointment if any services to the public will be cut, particularly given the city’s funding increase to the department in the last budget.
The current fiscal year budget for the Police Department is roughly $343 million, and the department has requested an increase for the next fiscal year with the budget topping roughly $417 million.
When asked about the memo, Rep. Mark Sharp, a Kansas City Democrat, pointed directly at the city’s lack of local control over its police force. The department is controlled by a five-member board, with four members appointed by the governor, while Lucas occupies the fifth spot.
Missouri state law, under legislation passed by voters in 2024, requires the city to spend at least 25% of its general revenue on police. The city has historically exceeded that percentage.
“These are some of the things that happen when we have a city who’s trying to control its budget for the local police department and we have a board appointed at the state level,” Sharp said in an interview.
Sharp said the memo was concerning as the city faces a wave of homicides and violent crimes involving firearms.
“Having less officers on the street is never a good thing,” he said.
Budget woes at both the state and local levels are “putting our law enforcement agencies in a really tough spot,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, said reductions in law enforcement officers aren’t always a bad thing, adding that many police officers are doing work that could be performed by another municipal agency.
However, she said those cuts should be strategic. Broad cuts to a department while officers conduct the same type of work they usually do could result in real public safety issues, she said.
Bonds also pointed to Graves’ recent salary increase.
“We spend a lot of money on high-ranking law enforcement officers in a lot of places,” Bonds said. “Everyone deserves to make a living, but is that a good investment of taxpayer money? I don’t know.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 1:30 PM.
