Jeff City wants to take even more control over Kansas City’s police. Stop Amendment 4

The Republican-led Missouri legislature is asking voters across the state to allow it to dictate how much Kansas City spends on its police force over the next three years. Voters should say absolutely not, and vote no on Missouri Amendment 4 on the Nov. 8 ballot.

A no vote would send a powerful message to lawmakers that when it comes to critical decisions such as how to fund local police, residents of the state’s largest city are perfectly capable of making their own decisions, thank you very much.

That this is even a question in 2022 is an insult to voters here, and a historical anomaly that makes Kansas City uniquely micromanaged among Missouri cities. Since 1939, a state law has left administration of the Kansas City Police Department to a board of police commissioners, with the city’s mayor the only local official on the five-member board. The other four are appointed by the governor and are impervious to local control.

That patronizing arrangement is long overdue for a rethink. How can anyone defend a system based on the absurd premise that a governor, any governor, is best-positioned to name leaders of an agency so vital to local quality of life as a city police department?

The leadership of the police department should answer to local officials, who in turn answer to local voters. It really is that simple.Sadly, though, that question is not on the ballot this November. Instead, state lawmakers are asking voters to amend the Missouri Constitution to impose a unique unfunded mandate on Kansas City.

That mandate — created by separate legislation approved last session — would require the city to spend at least 25% of its general fund revenue on the police department. State law currently requires that it spend at least 20% — a threshold the city already surpasses. But this new law would remove any discretion from the city’s mayor and city council.

Even as they passed the new mandate, lawmakers acknowledged that it almost certainly violates the Missouri Constitution, which bars the state from imposing mandates on local governments unless it covers any new costs.

That’s why lawmakers are asking voters to amend the state constitution.

Kansas City is wisely fighting the new law. Mayor Quinton Lucas filed suit Wednesday claiming the mandate is unconstitutional. And in a statement, Lucas argued the mandate is pure politics, noting that the city already spends heavily on police.

“The radical legislation provides no pay guarantees for our officers, will not hire a single police officer, and ignores the will and importance of Kansas City taxpayers, instead attempting to politicize policing in Kansas City at a time we sorely need bipartisan solutions to violent crime,” Lucas said.

For lawmakers ready to impose the new mandate on Kansas City, the issue is one of messaging. They want their voters, wherever they live, to know they oppose liberal talk of “defunding the police,” and that they solidly “back the blue.”

But that rhetoric is meaningless in the context of a city that already spends nearly 25% of its budget — almost $269 million this fiscal year — on police.

Every other city in the state has local control

Supporters of the law point to Lucas’ clumsy move last year to redirect funding above the 20% threshold to other public safety-related needs. A judge eventually blocked the move because the City Council had already approved the year’s police department budget before Lucas sought to redirect the funds.

But that doesn’t change the fact that local officials are the ones best suited to decide how much of the local tax haul is spent on the police department. It’s the same freedom, and responsibility, that every other city in Missouri is entrusted with.

Instead of easing the unique mandate aimed at Kansas City, lawmakers want to double down. That’s demeaning — and sets a dangerous precedent.

If the amendment passes, what would keep lawmakers from simply upping the threshold again after the three-year period in this legislation is over, to 30%, or 40% percent, or even higher? Funds needed for other priorities — including many also tied to public safety — would be quickly squeezed.

“If we are forced to put more money into the police department, the money has to come from somewhere,” said Gwendolyn Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, one of the leading civil rights organizations involved in police reform here.

To prevent the mandate from taking effect, Kansas City must do more than fight the law in court. It also must lead a communitywide push for autonomy, and against Amendment 4. Community and civic organizations such as the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City and the Urban League of Greater Kansas City must be actively involved.

The message should be simple: Treat Kansas City residents with the respect they deserve, and put them — and not voters statewide — in charge of holding police officials and the elected officials who appoint them accountable.