Why is KC police union fighting outside investigations of officer-involved shootings?

Kansas City’s Fraternal Order of Police has filed a formal grievance protesting the involvement of the Missouri Highway Patrol in investigating officer-involved shootings.

The grievance illustrates the coming battle over the independent review of police department actions. That oversight will be critical if Kansas Citians are to have full faith in their police department.

In the two-page grievance, the FOP says the department improperly shut down its investigation of an officer-involved shooting near 23rd Street and Topping Avenue on June 13. Kansas City detectives and technicians were told to cease their work at the scene because the Missouri Highway Patrol was examining the case.

The FOP says using the patrol without the union’s formal consent violates their written agreement with the Board of Police Commissioners.

“The change in procedures constitutes a change in several department policies, past practice, and Article 12 of the Memorandum of Agreement,” the grievance says.

The decision to involve the Missouri Highway Patrol in police shooting investigations came in early June. The killing of George Floyd, coupled with days of intense protests here and around the country, led to an unwritten policy to call in an outside group — the highway patrol — to investigate police incidents like the one near Topping Avenue.

It now appears that executing the policy could collide with the FOP’s written agreement with the police board.

The 2017 agreement provides specific protections for officers involved in on-duty incidents. Officers, for example, can ask for access to video and incident reports before providing interviews or written statements in an investigation.

The agreement and police department policy can be changed, but they must be amended after consultation with the FOP. The grievance claims the police board failed to take that step when it involved the Missouri Highway Patrol in officer-shooting situations.

The FOP didn’t respond to a request for comment. A representative of the police board said the grievance “speaks for itself.”

But the disagreement clearly illustrates the potential roadblocks in pursuing true independent oversight of police conduct. And that means the document must change.

As it turns out, the Fraternal Order of Police agreement expires early next year. Under its terms, negotiations on a new deal were to have started by July 1.

It is absolutely imperative that police commissioners, including Mayor Quinton Lucas, insist on language allowing independent third parties to investigate critical incidents involving the police. Negotiators must also eliminate unique protections for officers facing allegations of wrongdoing.

“Without hesitation. Without a doubt,” said Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, who has complained about the lack of police cooperation in officer-involved shootings. “They just need to get it done.”

The state-appointed Board of Police Commissioners can play a critical role. For years, its members have insisted that they represent the people of Kansas City, not the department or its interests.

Now is the chance to prove it. Negotiations should be public and transparent.

Police officers deserve the same protections as any other American accused of violating the law. The new agreement should guarantee that.

What it should not do is provide special protections for police or give officers rights unavailable to ordinary citizens. There’s a reason many people don’t trust the police. They believe there are two sets of rules: one for officers, another for everyone else.

That distrust leads to a lack of cooperation with police and investigators, a failure to prosecute violent crimes and an out-of-control murder rate. This is Kansas City’s most significant failing, and it can’t be repaired without faith in the department.

This will never be fixed, though, if the department is allowed to investigate itself. Changing the current contract is essential to providing needed independent oversight of police.

This story was originally published June 25, 2020 at 5:00 AM.