Letter to the editor: Overly-aggressive police aren’t KCPD Chief Rick Smith’s fault

Not Smith’s fault

The decisions made by both national and local politicians during the late 1980s and early 1990s to ramp up local law enforcement budgets while cutting needed services elsewhere created a monster we are now dealing with. Kansas City is a progressive city and has a fantastic police department, whose officers by and large follow that liberal tradition. Factors far beyond the control of Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith are the reason we are in this situation.

The COMBAT tax, and other funds designed to deal with drug violence, militarized the police with the full support of the Clinton administration, under the watchful eye of then-Jackson County Prosecutor Claire McCaskill.

I like our police. In my experience, Kansas City Police Department officers have been slow to anger and of good humor. This culture is not broken, and we have people like Chief Smith to thank. These men and women work hard and have our backs.

But give anyone a tool, and it will get used. Defund the military gear and culture, not these fine people who secure our streets.

Technological oversight doesn’t work. A culture of respect and caring does, and we have that foundation.

- Patrick Randolph, Kansas City

Public safety

You have to wear your seat belt in a vehicle. You should wear a face mask in public during the pandemic.

- Joseph Gray, Kansas City