Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves says her department is finally seeing an increase in recruiting numbers.
At the end of August, the department employed around 1,200 law enforcement officers, between those on the street and those in the academy. That’s up more than 100 from previous years, Graves told KCUR’s Up To Date.
The KCPD — which is controlled by the state of Missouri, not Kansas City leaders — has long struggled to recruit new officers, which Graves traces back to “anti-police rhetoric” in 2020. In Kansas City and around the country, mass Black Lives Matter protests brought attention to police misconduct and officer killings of unarmed civilians.
“This has been a nationwide challenge for law enforcement officials,” Graves said. “You know, we’re slowly making a comeback, and we’re seeing that in Kansas City, too.”
In 2022, the U.S. Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into the KCPD’s hiring practices after allegations of racism and harassment against Black officers. That investigation was suddenly closed in early 2025, just before President Donald Trump took office, without publishing any findings or comments.
The department still isn’t at full strength. Graves said the KCPD would need 1,400 total officers on its roster to get there. But she says January’s class of recruits could be record-breaking, too.
Graves joined Up To Date to discuss officer numbers, as well as the strength of the 911 system, first response drones and more.
