Prosecutor says KC cop is a ‘public safety threat.’ He should be fired | Opinion

Kansas City police officer Blayne Newton is a “threat to public safety.”

Those are not our words, but those of Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson. But we certainly agree that Newton is a danger to the very community he took an oath to protect and serve.

Newton’s credibility is so badly damaged that Johnson said she can’t accept cases Newton is involved in. Further, the officer’s aggressive behavior makes him a liability to the police department and the taxpayers who fund his salary.

“Because our concerns about his credibility rise to the level of a public safety threat, we have taken the position that we are not inclined to proceed on any cases that involve him,” Johnson said at a recent Urban Summit meeting, a weekly gathering of community-minded individuals and civic leaders on Kansas City’s East Side.

In a Jan. 21 letter sent to Police Chief Stacey Graves , Johnson wrote: “This office has serious and ongoing concerns about (Newton’s) pattern of behavior and the potential consequences it poses for other cases in which he is involved. (Newton’s) record is discoverable and it has the potential to undermine the integrity and viability of prosecutions involving (Newton).”

We strongly believe that Newton should no longer be a Kansas City Police Department officer. An advisory board commissioned by former County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker concluded the same in 2024.

Although we respect the difficulty of police work, we see no other recourse here. Since 2020, Newton has shot and killed three people and injured another with gunfire while on duty. He’s been accused of using excessive force more than once, and his actions have resulted in civil lawsuits and settlements totaling millions of dollars.

When we spoke with police department officials late last week, we were told Newton was still with the department.

We asked Tom Whittaker, president of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, if the board had any concerns that officers found to have used excessive force while in uniform and subjects of civil settlement claims were still on the force.

“While we won’t comment on specific personnel matters in accordance with Missouri Sunshine Law, we do conduct a thorough review of each use-of-force incident … in the context of our discipline policy,” Whittaker wrote in an email. “Regarding civil litigation, we are always looking to resolve those in the fairest and most efficient way possible.”

As a board, we call on Graves, Whittaker, the other commissioners and Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police president Brad Lemon to work together on an immediate exit strategy for Newton and any other officers who have routinely opened fire on citizens or abused them while in uniform.

Officer will not face charges

In June 2023, Newton fatally shot Marcel Nelson and Kristen Fairchild, and injured Jaden Thorns. Late last year, a Jackson County judge approved a $3.5 million settlement in the case. However, citing state law, Johnson recently announced that Newton would not face criminal charges in the shooting.

“Missouri law allows officers to use deadly force in response to an immediate threat, in defense of themselves and in defense of others, the law of transferred intent also applies here,” Johnson said at the Urban Summit meeting. “That doctrine prevents criminal liability when unintended people are harmed during what the law defines as lawful self-defense, or defense of others.”

While we were disappointed to learn that Johnson’s office declined to prosecute Newton in the shooting, we respect the rule of law that absolved the officer of criminal wrongdoing.

But no one should ignore the fact that Newton fired at least 16 shots into the minivan Nelson, Fairchild and Thorns were in. And because of his violent and dubious past, he wasn’t even supposed to be on patrol in Jackson County at the time of the fatal shooting, the group’s attorney John Picerno told KCUR.

“It was well known he wasn’t supposed to be there,” Picerno told the outlet.

Other cases of police violence

In one excessive force case, video surveillance footage shows Newton assaulting a woman while working off-duty security at a Northland Walmart. The police commissioners’ Office of Community Complaints sustained accusations that Newtown used excessive force against the woman. She sued and settled claims with the police board for $65,000.

There’s more: In March 2020, Newton shot and killed an unarmed 47-year-old man, Donnie Sanders, after a traffic stop near Prospect Avenue. Sanders’ family has filed a $10 million civil suit in connection with the Kansas City man’s death.

Later that same year, we watched viral clips of Newton placing his knee into the back of a woman who was nine months pregnant at the time.

And no one should forget he was one of three officers accused of beating and using a Taser on a teenager in 2019. A lawsuit filed on behalf of that teen resulted in a $325,000 settlement.

“Blayne Newton needs to be gone,” Urban League of Greater Kansas City CEO Gwen Grant said at the Urban Summit meeting. “And we need to press for that.”

No policy for arrests

Although Newton has never been charged with a criminal offense, we’d like to take this time to encourage the police department and its oversight board to address one glaring omission: “There isn’t a policy about officers being charged with crimes per se,” KCPD Sgt. Jake Becchina wrote in an email.

The department does have separate policies that pertain to discipline and ethics, Becchina wrote.

“Not committing crimes is generally covered in the code of ethics policy,” he wrote. “Criminal convictions and charges have to be reported to Missouri POST, which is the licensing entity for police in the state of Missouri. They take those into account when issuing licenses to police officers.”

While we wholeheartedly respect due process rights for the men and women in blue, we have concerns about the department’s lack of a policy in this regard.

Most police officers never fire their weapons, a 2019 study by the National Policing Institute found. Yet, Newton is among a handful of Kansas City officers involved in multiple use-of-force incidents while on duty.

Until he and others like him are longer with KCPD, the safety of all Kansas Citians are at risk.