Drones, partnerships and mandatory overtime: How some Kansas City leaders want to change policing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Emails obtained by KCTV5 through an open records request reveal bold new strategies for the Kansas City Police Department.

Some of these ideas may never become a reality since the police department answers to a State Board of Police Commissioners. However, they revealed what city manager Brian Platt would like to see if he had his way.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas was quick to support the concepts when KCTV5 laid out what was being proposed in the emails.

“You know, to me, I think this makes a lot of sense. What we see on this list, these are the sorts of things that we want to have more discussion of in Kansas City,” said Lucas.

The email contains 20 major ideas to change how the police department operates plus eight concepts the city is ready to commit to. It was sent in April to several city council members.

It proposed mandatory police overtime and minimum staffing, requiring officers to generally ride alone in patrol cars and to partner with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department to solve staffing concerns.

Under the proposal from Platt, the helicopter program would be eliminated and the police department would shift to drones.

“Each drone is 1% of the cost of a helicopter and more rapidly deployable in the field,” writes Platt.

You can read the full email here.

Numerous ideas from the email are bubbling to the surface, combining KCPD and KCFD 911 systems where the city would assume management of the system and the latest discussion regarding additional detention space.

The email revealed the city’s concern about crime and accountability.

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“One issue we need to address is consequences- we don’t have jail space, so we have to release people early and also KCPD is less inclined to make arrests because of lack of prosecution,” wrote Platt.

“What I see from all of these ideas from the City Manager is that these are really worthy of discussion and evaluation, and that’s something we’re not that we don’t have enough of yet. So, I hope this does start a conversation,” said Lucas.

Partnerships

Another idea in the email is moving forward: a city-county partnership. On Sept. 20, Lucas met with Jackson County Executive Frank White.

Police Chief Stacey Graves recently met with Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forté, according to a statement sent to KCTV5.

“As a direct result of my conversations with Chief Graves, we have initiated several measures, including deployment of deputies to patrol various high-crime areas in Kansas City,” wrote Sheriff Darryl Forté. “I personally frequently patrol them and catch glimpses of activity.”

It’s unclear how much support the sheriff’s department could provide police; the department is down 14 sworn deputies out of 103 positions.

“Despite these challenges, I am committed to assisting other agencies as needed when possible,” wrote Forté.

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Chief Stacey Graves declined to sit down and discuss the city’s suggestions concerning her department.

KCPD did provide a general statement to KCTV5.

Public safety is a collaborative effort, and we appreciate any conversation that can spur advancement in keeping our city safe. We work with city leaders every day to ensure we are taking the steps necessary to make public safety the top priority. We will continue to work together and we value input from any of our partners.

KCTV5 also reached out to the Fraternal Order of Police. President Brad Lemon did not have a comment.

Lucas suggested futher collaborations beyond just the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, especially at large public events.

Mandatory Overtime for police

A trickier concept that has the mayor’s support is mandatory overtime.

He instantly pointed out it is a requirement for the Kansas City Fire Department and the Kansas City Public Works Department during snowstorms.

“When there’s a snowstorm in Kansas City, we used to say ‘It’s a big city, it’s hard for us to catch up. We’ll get to you at some point.” Right? Something that we did add in our snow response was mandatory overtime for Public Works folks. When there’s a storm, we have to work 12-hour shifts,” said Lucas.

The mayor questioned if allowing officers to moonlight other places while there are open shifts for police is the best policy concerning what’s happening in the city.

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KCPD is currently down 325 sworn officers, or 23% of the workforce. Forty people are currently enrolled in the police academy.

KCTV5 reached out to 10 comparative police departments to learn more about mandatory overtime. Those who responded let us know they have not taken that step to fill the gaps.

Who’s all in the conversation?

It appears only a smattering of city council members were sent the plan.

Eric Bunch’s office clarified it never received the proposal. Lindsay French’s office questioned the same thing, unable to locate it in email. Kevin O’Neil responded that he never received the email.

“I advise City officials to work with the KCPD to ensure we can implement solutions and that those solutions are developed through a collaborative process,” wrote Melissa Robinson, who did not receive the email either.

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Follow-up questions to Platt’s office seeking information on who exactly received the email remained unanswered, as of Monday afternoon.

It’s unclear how many of these ideas have been shared directly with KCPD.

Lucas volunteered information regarding his efforts to meet with the Missouri governor’s office to discuss these issues. He was told the conversation was more appropriate for the next governor.

Lucas pointed out that’s four months away.

“Here in Kansas City, we can’t have four-month waits. We can’t have 12-month waits on 911 improvements. And I hope this starts a discussion on what we can do better ahead,” Lucas said.

For more KCTV5 Investigates reports, click here.

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