Could KC sue for local control of its police department? Mayor says it’s worth exploring

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas minces no words in assessing the current oversight of the police department.

“It is not working,” Lucas says of the state-appointed governing board that manages the Kansas City Police Department.

While the mayor has made regaining local control of the police department a priority, Missouri lawmakers have shown little inclination to make this long overdue change.

But could Kansas City sue its way to reclaiming local police control?

With grim legislative prospects, the mayor says that legal action might be the city’s last best hope for finally forcing this issue.

“I think that Kansas City, Missouri, or a set of plaintiffs … should actually consider pursuing litigation to get us out of this situation,” Lucas told The Star Editorial Board.

He argues that the current governance model for the Kansas City Police Department violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, which prohibits state and local governments from denying any individual equal protection of the law and which has been essential to the protection of civil rights.

The five-member Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, which includes the mayor and four appointees selected by the governor, in fact does not represent Kansas Citians and is not accountable to them.

“There are incredible concerns with the voices of Black and brown people, and heck, even if you’re not looking at race, there are no Northlanders, ironically, on the police board,” Lucas said. “There is flaw after flaw that I think you could actually build an exceptional case.”

Kansas City has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the largest cities in the country that doesn’t have local control of its police department. The current governance model has long since outlived its usefulness, leaving local elected officials on the sidelines on crucial public safety decisions.

As the Kansas City Police Department continues to resist needed reforms and struggles to slow spikes in violent crime, the issue of local control is all the more relevant — and urgent.

And if state lawmakers won’t do the right thing, Lucas is right to explore litigation.

The mayor points to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could bolster the city’s legal argument for local control.

When New York City was on the brink of bankruptcy in 1975, a Board of Estimate was created to control the city’s budget. The Supreme Court later ruled that the board was unconstitutional because the people of New York City did not have equal representation, a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

Could that precedent provide a pathway for local control of the Kansas City Police Department? That’s still unclear, but Lucas, a lawyer and lecturer at the University of Kansas School of Law, is optimistic.

Pat McInerney, a former police board president and an attorney at Spencer Fane, said this legal argument has not been made before regarding the Kansas City police board.

“There are interesting parallels between the New York case, but I don’t know if it’s apples to apples here,” he said. “It’s certainly a unique approach.”

Not surprisingly, David Kenner, general counsel for the police board, said the current structure has served the city well.

“We know of no reason why this structure violates any laws or constitutional provisions,” Kenner said.

Lucas is the only member of the police board who ultimately answers to voters and taxpayers. Other commissioners are never held accountable, and consequently, they see no reason to change the governance structure or make needed reforms to the police department.

And that’s just fine by Police Chief Rick Smith.

Lucas is frustrated by stubborn inaction on police reform. And he should be. Several measures he introduced to the police board have stalled or have been ever so slowly advanced. And in the absence of local control, there’s little the mayor can do.

Of course, local control alone will not send crime rates plummeting or fix all that ails the Kansas City Police Department. But it will improve transparency and accountability within a department that’s struggling to regain the community’s trust.

Litigation could prove costly. But it may be the most promising prospect to return control of the police department to the people of Kansas City. And that’s worth careful consideration.

As the mayor has correctly noted, “People are tired of waiting.”