In final 2025 meeting, KC Board of Police Commissioners will tackle homicide rate
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Board will meet to address homicide trends, staffing and crime initiatives.
- Department requests $417M for FY2026-27; mayor reviewing the request.
- Commissioners will review 911 response times and COMBAT funding updates.
The Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners is set to host its final scheduled meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, with agenda items focused on the city’s homicide rate and several crime-fighting initiatives.
The police board is also scheduled to discuss staffing issues, as well as an update on its budget request to the city.
Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a police spokesperson, declined to discuss specific agenda items.
Last week, Mayor Quinton Lucas was scheduled to meet with police department leaders to discuss their annual budget request, which calls for a 21.6% budget increase from the previous year.
The police department is requesting $417 million for fiscal year 2026-2027. Lucas is the fifth member of the police board. The other police commissioners are appointed by the Missouri governor.
Lucas’s meeting with the police department leaders was closed to the media as the two sides discussed the request.
Megan Strickland, a spokesperson for Lucas, said late Monday that the meeting had been canceled and did not take place.
In October, Lucas said that the police department has been able to hire additional officers and respond to other budgetary needs. The department’s budget request for the next fiscal year needs more discussion, he said.
The request, which was approved by the police board in October, comes after City Manager Mario Vasquez directed city departments to freeze budget funding requests due to a predicted $100 million shortfall.
“I will review the state-appointed board’s request closely and will continue to push the Board of Police Commissioners to craft ways to reduce the millions of dollars going to legal settlements each year,” Lucas said in an October release following the request. “I also expect resolution in the next fiscal year to the still-too-regular 911 delays the public faces when calling into the department controlled 911 system.”
Police commissioners are expected to discuss on Tuesday how quickly officers respond to 911 emergency calls.
In October, Lucas said he hoped the upcoming police budget would help resolve the department’s ongoing delays, which the public faces when calling into the department’s 911 system.
“We have much work to do at a time of increasing budget strain for Kansas City,” Lucas said in the October news release. “We will work together to ensure safety and fiscal responsibility for Kansas Citians.”
Police commissioners are scheduled to hear about funding updates on the Jackson County anti-drug Community Backed Anti-Crime Tax or COMBAT.
This story was originally published December 15, 2025 at 5:40 PM.