Kansas City civic coalition says public has been shut out of new KCPD chief selection

Leaders of a coalition that includes the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce say they are concerned that the selection of a new chief for the Kansas City Police Department is being done without input from residents, business and community groups.

In a written statement this week, the coalition noted that it sent a letter to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners Sept. 26 offering to facilitate a series of public forums where residents could hear from police chief candidates and learn about their qualifications and crime-fighting priorities.

But, the Chamber noted, there has been no outreach from the police board.

“We have been met with silence,” said John Sharp, president of the South Kansas City Alliance, who was one of 14 neighborhood, civic, faith and business leaders who signed the Sept. 26 letter.

“The public has been cut out of this process and we think if the public is involved in the process and gets to know these candidates, they’ll be more inclined to be supportive of them,” Sharp said. “And they’ll feel like whoever is selected is their chief, not just somebody that was picked by somebody else.”

The police board recently announced it identified several semifinalists from 21 applicants who they are considering to be the next police chief.

Mark Tolbert, the police board president, said 21 candidates were too many for commissioners to hold public meetings with. He said commissioners will hold public meetings once the six semifinalists are narrowed down to three final candidates.

“We’ve got to let the search company and the board of police commissioners do their job to get it down to the three best candidates,” Tolbert said. “And whether they believe we did that or not, that’s somebody’s opinion. And everybody’s got one.”

Chamber’s coalition offers help

In March, the coalition of 16 civic, faith-based and business organizations led by the Chamber sponsored a series of seven listening sessions throughout Kansas City to learn what qualities residents want in their next police chief.

In those pubic forums, Kansas City residents said they want the next police chief to be more transparent, focus on building community trust, reduce homicides and have a clear crime-fighting strategy.

The coalition cited the results of those listening sessions in its Sept. 26 letter to the police board, calling for more public engagement as the candidates are narrowed down.

“Perhaps the most prominent theme resonating from our engagement process was the need for the next Chief of Police to build trust in our community through transparency and openness,” the letter said.

“We believe this can start even before the final selection for the position has been made by the Board. That is why we are calling on you to continue to engage the community in the selection process and offering our help, as you narrow your search to a small group of final candidates, to continue the public dialogue.”

Chamber coalition letter to KCPD police board by The Kansas City Star on Scribd

Police board to conduct interviews in closed meeting

On Tuesday, the police board said it will hold a closed-door meeting Oct. 18 to discuss personnel matters.

At that meeting, it is likely the board will conduct interviews of the semifinalists. The police board will then select three finalists who they will consider to replace Interim Police Chief Joseph Mabin, who was appointed after Chief Rick Smith resigned in April.

Smith faced significant criticism for his handling of excessive use of force, specifically the killing of Black men by police.

The board hired Public Sector Search & Consultants, a California-based company to conduct a nationwide search for a new chief. The firm is led by Gary Peterson, who was the only executive search to submit a bid to help identify a slate of candidates.

Peterson had previously worked for a different search firm that helped the board decide in 2017 to hire Smith as the city’s 45th police chief.

In 2017, before the police board selected Rick Smith to be police chief, commissioners held several community meetings to receive input from residents.

Tolbert said the police board will repeat that process with the chamber’s coalition and community and faith leaders once they have narrowed the candidates down to three.

Three of the six semifinalists are applicants from inside the police department. The three other semifinalists are outside of KCPD.

The police board has not released the names of the semifinalists.

The selection of a new police chief is occurring at a time when the Department of Justice is investigating allegations of racist practices by the Kansas City Police Department in its hiring, promotion and treatment of Black officers.