Peggy Lowe
Public Safety, Justice and Investigative ReporterAs KCUR’s public safety and justice reporter, I put the people affected by the criminal justice system front and center, so you can learn about different perspectives through empathetic, contextual and informative reporting. My investigative work shines a light on often secretive processes, countering official narratives and exposing injustices.
Email me at lowep@kcur.org.
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The Metropolitan Organization Countering Sexual Assault, or MOCSA, is doing 200 trainings for bar and restaurant workers after officials noticed an uptick in reports of sexual assault during the 2023 NFL Draft, which was in Kansas City. Adding to their fears is a temporary allowance for 23-hour-a-day alcohol sales. -
A major breach of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department reveals, for the first time, a list of alleged officer misconduct including dishonesty, sexual harassment, excessive force, and false arrest. -
Cedric Warren and Domonique Moore, whose murder convictions were tossed last year due to prosecutorial misconduct, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday. They say they were railroaded by Roger Golubski, then a police detective, because the mother of one of them refused his sexual advances. -
The Kansas City Police Department is asking for a 21.6% increase in funding for next fiscal year, despite the city’s budget woes. The money is needed for personnel costs, legal settlements, and hiring more officers and 911 call-takers, police said. -
Las mujeres que ingresan al juzgado del condado de Wyandotte, en Kansas City, Kansas, afirman que sus sostenes con varillas activan los detectores de metales hipersensibles y que, inmediatamente, son inspeccionadas a la fuerza por agentes femeninas. La oficina del sheriff afirma que se trata de una medida para proteger el juzgado. -
Women entering the Wyandotte County Courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas, say their underwire bras are triggering hypersensitive metal detectors, and they are then forcibly patted down by female deputies. The sheriff’s office says it’s protecting the courthouse.
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Joshua Rocha, 28, was convicted of first-degree murder by the same jury last week in the fatal shooting of Officer Daniel Vasquez. It is the first time Clay County prosecutors have asked for the death penalty since 1988. -
Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, passed in 2021 and signed by then-Gov. Mike Parson at a Kansas City gun shop, was criticized by local governments, local police and others. The U.S. Justice Department said the law would cause harm to law enforcement and public safety. -
Joshua Rocha, 28, admitted to police just hours after the 2022 killing of North Kansas City officer Daniel Vasquez that he decided he was going to shoot as soon as Vasquez started following his car. Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, said “he chose death.”
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Attorneys for the family of Charles Adair, 50, whose death was ruled a homicide, saw body camera footage of his death Tuesday. It showed Wyandotte County deputy sheriff Richard Fatherley kneeling on Adair’s back for a minute and a half, they said.
