Joe Manchin-esque: Chamber of Commerce And Civic Council Punt On Local Control Of KCPD
If you are looking for someone to tell you “water is wet” and slow walk commonsense solutions, look no further than the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Council’s recommendations for Kansas City, Missouri “police governance and public safety.”
The study was prompted by the Black Lives Matter protests last summer and the absolute horrific murder and violent crime that occurs in our city.
After “months of joint study and research,” the two organizations gave us just 3 bullet point recommendations.
Investigation of police department personnel should be independent of the Kansas City Police Department for all cases of excessive use of force and all complaints brought by the public.
Don’t mean to be rude but Duh! You could have just read the Forward Through Ferguson report that was published 6 years ago from across the state for this suggestion. There are open source research! (Page 27 and 29 just for reference!)
The City and Board of Police Commissioners should engage in dialogue – rather than litigation - to find common ground regarding the department’s current budget and other contentious issues. The current back-and-forth between the two entities does nothing to reduce the city’s high level of violent crime nor does it improve the relations between the community and the police department. Engaging in protracted litigation diverts funds and wastes valuable time and energy that could better be used to shore up police resources and improve processes.
Currently, Kansas City does not have control over our police department but a state board appointed by the Governor does. And now the Board of Police Commissioners are suing the city over changes to the budget, which is the only piece the city does control.
As vacancies on the Board of Police Commissioners occur, we encourage the appointment of new members who reflect the racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity of the community KCPD serves.
And then they mention that they will control to work on issues like local control of the police department and diversity within the police ranks.
They punted on the most important issue—LOCAL CONTROL OF KCPD! For now…
See, recommendation #1 would have been done years ago and recommendations #2 and #3 would be moot if the city and taxpayers had control over our police department.
And the Chamber and Civic Council are not naive and understand that any other significant changes to policing and public safety will not move forward with state control.
The entire situation reeks of when we have to deal with America’s most important person: West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.
Manchin hems and haws and sways in the wind. He advocates for moderation for moderation’s sake and compromise with unreasonable people on issues like voting rights where there are clear value-based dividing lines.
But he draws you just enough to think he’ll do something just like the Chamber and Civic Council, which have backed commonsense reforms such as Missouri Nondiscrimination Act and Medicaid Expansion.
But more often than not, you end up royally disappointed and empty-handed.
The punting of a recommendation on local control of KCPD by the Chamber and Civic Council is one of those crystal clear, commonsense issues.
Every other city in the country has control over their police department and has to varying degrees been able to implement reforms and do public safety differently.
Kansas City is all alone.
And the results are extremely poor.
But even if the results aren’t great in some other cities, Kansas City residents and taxpayers should have the right to decide how we are policed and how our money is being spent.
But why does the Chamber of Commerce and Civic Council’s opinion matter?
As I stated, the only way to actually fundamentally change KCPD, have accountability for our outrageous violent crime, and think of innovative ways to do public safety differently is to gain local control.
The ways to get local control include:
Suing, which is happening.
A statewide petition initiative, which is unlikely and about to get harder.
Have the Missouri Legislature change state law, which will happen when hell freezes over.
So for now, it is really a matter of getting as many people on board as possible and that includes powerful and influential groups like the Civic Council and Chamber of Commerce.
Right now, they are not meeting the moment.
It will be seven years in August since Mike Brown’s murder and the Ferguson uprising. Brown’s murder and the protests that followed created a nationwide referendum on policing and criminal justice issues, which were jumpstarted again with the murder of George Floyd last summer.
But in the year of our Lord 2021, we have the central Kansas City business and civic organizations both of whom champion “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” at every turn giving very timid, bland, and recycled solutions.
Both groups always want to be included in policy discussions and they get upset when they are not asked for their opinion. They also say they want to better Kansas City including help out with making Kansas City safer and more equitable.
A good first step would be standing up for Kansas City taxpayers and endorse local control of KCPD and then spend valuable time working on how to make it happen.
We are not asking you to be Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, we are just asking you to not be Joe Manchin.
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