Up To Date

New Kansas City Police Chief discusses her plans to rebuild relationships with the community

By Steve Kraske,

Published December 23, 2022 at 3:00 PM CST

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A woman wearing a police chief's uniform looks at the camera and smiles. There is a gray wall behind her. — Newly installed Kansas City Police Department Chief Stacey Graves.

Stacey Graves is first woman in the nearly 150 year history of the KCPD to be named a permanent chief of the department. She says she plans to focus on creating new opportunities to improve community engagement and relationships with the department.

The new Kansas City Police Chief, Stacey Graves, has inherited a department that is under intense scrutiny. The department currently faces an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, fierce criticism over several shootings by police, and a major staffing crisis.

As she concludes her first full week on the job, Chief Graves says she wants to prioritize rebuilding connections with the community to better address the existing issues with the department.

“We're gonna have to start sitting down and talking to each other and we really got to get moving on a positive policing movement here,” Graves said. “And I think it all starts by just talking.”

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Up To Date Podcast Kansas City Police Department Kansas City Chief of Police crime Police shootings community engagement Jackson County Prosecutor's Office

Steve Kraske

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.

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Zach Wilson

As Up To Date’s senior producer, I construct daily conversations that give our listeners context to the issues of our time. I strive to provide a platform that holds those in power accountable, while also spotlighting the voices of Kansas City’s creatives and visionaries that may otherwise go unheard. Email me at zach@kcur.org.

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Zach Perez

As KCUR’s Community Engagement Producer, I help welcome our audiences into the newsroom, and bring our journalism out into the communities we serve. Many people feel overlooked or misperceived by the media, and KCUR needs to do everything we can to cover and empower the diverse communities that make up the Kansas City metro — especially the ones who don’t know us in the first place. My work takes the form of reporting stories, holding community events, and bringing what I’ve learned back to Up To Date and the rest of KCUR.

What should KCUR be talking about? Who should we be talking to? Let me know. You can email me at zjperez@kcur.org or message me on Twitter at @zach_pepez.

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