KC police won’t share lessons from Chiefs rally shooting, but experts have suggestions

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One month later, many questions about security at the Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally, where one person was killed and dozens were injured, remain unanswered.

The mass shooting unfolded Feb. 14 outside Kansas City’s Union Station. The latest related charges allege a dozen people brandished firearms, and at least six people fired weapons.

The Kansas City Police Department worked with the Kansas City Sports Commission and city officials in security planning for the celebration.

Some 600 KCPD officers and more than 200 officers from outside agencies were assigned to the event to work along the parade route and at the rally, said Officer Alayna M. Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the police department.

She declined to provide information on how those officers were positioned or any other details on what precautions law enforcement took to ensure the safety for those attending that day.

She said screening the crowd for weapons along the route or at the rally was not feasible, given the large number of people attending the event and the lack of any controlled access points.

Police will undertake an internal review to see what they might have done differently, but have no intention of making that report public.

“After a large scale event takes place that we are a part of, an opportunity is present to review what worked and what could be improved for future planning and participation in large scale city events,” she said in an email. “Those conversations continue to happen regularly as we never stop working on trying to improve.”

The department referred all other questions to the Kansas City Sports Commission, the nonprofit organization that planned the gathering.

What lessons did officials learn?

Along with the police, the sports commission began planning for a possible parade last fall, building on what they had learned from previous celebrations.

For instance, police suggested that the start point be moved a couple of blocks south of the River Market, which is where the parade started in 2020 and 2023, because that area has seen more residential and commercial development in recent years, according to sports commission spokesman Elliott Scott.

“Safety and security planning also encompassed detailed emergency medical procedures, including evacuation routes,” he said in an email. “We have been advised by authorities that those procedures were validated by the quick response of emergency medical services and likely saved lives.”

At least 39 people sustained injuries at last month’s mass shooting at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl rally at Union Station, The Star found in a check of local hospitals and urgent care centers. Kansas City police said on the day after the shooting that 23 people were wounded by gunfire, one fatally. Others were injured while fleeing the melee.

The sports commission also declined to provide details on other security precautions and, like the police, pushed back on the notion that more might have been done to screen for weapons.

Event safety and security planners did not think it was practical to prohibit people from bringing in large bags or backpacks, which could be used to conceal weapons, given the nature of the event.

“Many families arrived very early in the morning and were prepared with the things that they would need for a full day (water, food, diapers, etc.),” Scott said.

Best practices for mass events

In his 32 years with the San Francisco Police Department, James Dudley led plans for large-scale gatherings, from protests to celebrations for the Giants.

The retired deputy chief recommended the PACE framework, an acronym for primary, alternative, contingency and emergency plans.

Gonzalez said KCPD has those practices in place, but does not refer to them as PACE.

“We consistently reevaluate all plans and responses for how we can improve; including completing after actions reviews of our plans and responses, staying up to date on all training, researching other Departments’ responses and learning from academic articles,” she said in a statement. “We have included Primary and Emergency plans in our briefings and all Supervisors and Commanders have required (incident command system) training through FEMA.”

The Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11, clinching their third Super Bowl title in five years.

Dudley said in his experience, if a team wins their first playoff game, they start thinking about a potential parade.

“We start lining up all of our resources and canceling days off for police and fire so that we have enough personnel on hand and then we start breaking into groups — the operations plans, logistics and admin/finance to make sure that everything’s covered,” he said.

The enforcement arm begins looking at past events and how to prevent problems.

Many stakeholders convene meetings to coordinate plans, from police to businesses along the route and the sports team.

An incident commander makes final decisions.

The framework, he said, helps “your ability to respond to different types of incidents, and keeps everybody on the same page on command and control and communication aspects.”

Gonzalez told The Star that KCPD has recently designated a new position to coordinate and communicate throughout the department before and during large community events, something she said had been in the works for awhile.

Are some events too big for checkpoints?

In the wake of the shooting, Mayor Quinton Lucas said Kansas City will not stop having major events.

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade will likely draw thousands on Sunday along Broadway Boulevard.

And Kansas City will be on the international stage as a host of the 2026 World Cup.

In Dudley’s experience, a visual presence of officers is important for these types of events.

“The mere presence of those might deter somebody who’s unlawfully carrying a gun, somebody with a prior felony or someone who’s been a confirmed gang member,” he said.

Gonzalez said KCPD is adding more officers along the St. Patrick’s Day parade route than it had initially planned.

Dudley also said that even for large events, checkpoints could be set up. While they may be logistically challenging, he said he saw them at the World Cup in Paris.

“For blocks and blocks and blocks around the plaza, the grassy plazas that overlook the Eiffel Tower, there were checkpoints and so French police, Paris police managed to set up checkpoints in this humongous location so that from any point to go into this central area, you had to go through a checkpoint,” he said.

Creating a celebration zone with a free ticket could give officials leeway to set up screening zones, he said.

Kansas City experienced this type of ‘celebration zone’ for the NFL Draft last spring. There were three entrances — two near Union Station were for VIPs and staff — but nearly all fans entered through a single gate. Everyone went through a security checkpoint just like at a Chiefs game.

Those attending also had to first download an app on their phones before entering and let security scan a code. No loitering was allowed around the perimeter of the event.

“A parade is a wholly different event than the NFL draft,” Gonzalez said in an email last month. “The NFL draft was held solely at Union Station and did not include a parade route covering a significant portion of the downtown area.”

The message for St. Patrick’s Day

Dudley said he would expect there to be messaging about guns ahead of Sunday’s parade.

“Messaging is so important to get out on social media and in TV announcements and full-page ads saying, ‘We want you to come, we want you to celebrate and have a good time, but please leave your firearms at home.”

Messaging could also emphasize that brandishing a firearm will be strictly enforced.

According to a federal indictment, 12 people brandished guns and at least six people fired weapons at the Chiefs rally. Missouri has lax laws when it comes to gun possession. But it is illegal to exhibit a firearm “in an angry or threatening manner.”

Event organizers for St. Patrick’s Day parades across Kansas City gathered to review security measures ahead of this weekend’s festivities.

Mindy Hart, a publicist and organizer of this weekend’s Snake Saturday Parade and Festival in North Kansas City said it is not lost on her and others involved in various parades and events across the area, that “there’s a lot of trust put in us to do that.”

“And we take it very seriously. Especially this year.”

The Star’s Laura Bauer and Glenn Rice contributed reporting.