Kansas City police funding amendment would hurt Kansas Citians and all Missourians
There aren’t enough people talking about Amendment 4.
If passed, this amendment would allow state officials to further dictate how much Kansas City spends on its police. Because Kansas City doesn’t have local control of its police department, state politicians make decisions for the city and, in turn, have placed the amendment on a statewide ballot. It would mandate that at least 25 percent of the city’s general revenue be spent on police.
The KCPD’s already has an exorbitant, $269 million dollar budget, and we’ve never seen a ballot issue like this. And we’ve never seen an issue quite as misleading about how it harms the community–in Kansas City and statewide.
In 2022, Missouri Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, who does not live in Kansas City, introduced a bill requiring the city to increase its police department budget. The bill was adopted by the Missouri legislature and signed into law earlier this year. However, the law violates Missouri’s Hancock Amendment, a 1981 constitutional provision that prohibits the state of Missouri from forcing municipalities to spend more money on any given service without state reimbursement and without public vote.
That’s why Amendment 4 was placed on the ballot. But its language does not clearly state that the police funding bill is unconstitutional. Instead, it claims that this measure would “ensure [Kansas City’s] police force has additional resources to serve its communities.” While this amendment would force the city to spend more money on the police, nothing in it establishes how the money will be spent, or what “additional resources” it would fund.
Politicians like Luetkemeyer are misleading the public about the aims of this amendment. Luetkemeyer and Missouri State Rep. Doug Richey, R-Excelsior Springs, have argued that the measure would increase police funding during a period of high violent crime in Kansas City. But the link between more police spending and crime rates is anything but established. Between 2014 and 2020, KCPD’s funding increased from $211.12 million to $262.21 million, and yet homicides rose an astonishing 79%. Every time the police budget increases, crime increases too, proving there is no correlation between increasing police funding and decreasing crime.
This amendment is really about doubling down on state control and further silencing our community’s voices.
In addition, the ballot indicates that “state and local governmental entities estimate no additional costs or savings related to this proposal.” This is false. The amendment would require Kansas City to spend $38 million more in public funds.
Because of this drastic increase, this amendment doesn’t just impact taxes, but the entire ecosystem of support that we rely on our city to provide. In 2022 KCPD got $152 for every dollar that went to homeless initiatives. This amendment could further widen that gap, causing budget slashes or tax increases for services that already have to compete with the police for crucial funding.
No matter your political affiliation, the threat of state overreach should concern you. This legislation comes at a crucial time, amid a national wave of extremist politicians silencing local voices in the democratic process. We’ve seen it happen with new, strict voter ID laws in Missouri and nationally, and this amendment only gives state government more power. More community involvement—not more state control—makes Kansas City and all of Missouri safer.
A vote no on Amendment 4 means a Kansas City where residents have a say on public safety. A vote no on Amendment 4 means a safer Missouri in which all Missourians’ rights are protected. Our community matters, and your vote counts.
Amaia Cook s a leader with Decarcerate KC, a community organization working to raise awareness and create change on issues of policing and incarceration in Kansas City.
