KC police board’s rushed, inept search for new chief shows its disdain for the public

Kansas City’s state-appointed Board of Police Commissioners has selected three final candidates for chief of police. Saturday, the public will get a chance to meet those candidates in a public forum.

The forum starts at 10:00 a.m., at the Robert J. Mohart Multipurpose Center, 3200 Wayne Ave. The three finalists are Maj. Stacey Graves, acting deputy chief of the Kansas City Police Department; Scott Ebner, a former lieutenant colonel with the New Jersey State Police; and Inspector DeShawn Beaufort of the Philadelphia Police Department.

The session marks the final chapter in the board’s unsurprisingly inept process for picking a new chief. Members of the public have largely been left out of the search, and now have just three hours to make their views known about candidates revealed to the public just a few days ago.

The Public Safety Coalition, a group of civic organizations active in discussions surrounding the police department, and its new chief, blistered the selection process in a recent news release.

“Coalition members are unhappy that only one session will be held in one part of the city,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, the community’s level of continued engagement in this process will be severely limited by the BOPC decision to offer just one opportunity to hear from the three finalists.”

Darron Edwards, lead pastor at United Believers Community Church, believes the board’s secret rush to judgment cheats the people. “Kansas City voices are a distant second to the loud voices of Jefferson City,” he said.

We share their concerns. Because its choice of a new chief is not subject to review, the board owed the community a real voice in the decision. We now know the community will not get that voice.

Restoring trust between the community and the department will be the new chief’s first and most difficult task. The board has already demonstrated its disdain for that relationship, which will make the new chief’s job even harder.

And what of the candidates?

We have no quarrel with Stacey Graves, a veteran of the KCPD. Her appointment would be historic: No woman has ever run the Kansas City Police Department. That alone is a strong argument in her favor.

She has had a wide range of job experience in the department, including a stint as media affairs coordinator. She worked for a time as an aide to former Police Chief Darryl Forté, when homicides dropped dramatically.

Yet we, like many Kansas Citians, hoped the board would conduct a serious search for qualified outside candidates who could bring a fresh perspective to the department. It hired a search firm to help find those candidates.

Perhaps the board should ask for a refund. The two outside candidates, DeShawn Beaufort and Scott Ebner, may be fine human beings, but appear to lack the skills and experience Kansas City needs at this critical hour for the department.

Ebner is retired. Beaufort, who is currently active in counterterrorism work, was part of an alleged road rage incident just last year that ended up with his reassignment. Both have applied for police chief openings in other cities, and have fallen short. It’s hard to believe KCPD’s board, and its consultant, scoured the nation and decided these candidates were the best available.

It’s been half a century since Kansas City reached outside its ranks for a chief. There is absolutely no indication that pattern will change with this choice. That makes Saturday’s forum more like political performance art instead of meaningful scrutiny.

One other note: The police board’s agenda calls for a potential closed session Saturday, immediately after the public forum, to discuss “personnel matters.” Details were fuzzy at midweek, but it’s possible the hiring of the new chief could take place as soon as Saturday.

That would simply be too fast. The board should wait until its members can absorb what they hear at the forum before making a decision. We hope they act in the city’s best interests, not the politicians who picked them for their jobs.