Kansas City Missouri Police

Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said she got accountability in the case against the 20-year-old involved in the fatal mass shooting. But Johnson vowed to change the law, saying the victim’s family deserved “way more than the law currently allows us to give them.”

The family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the 43-year-old mother who was killed during the February 2024 mass shooting, said accountability matters, but it won’t bring their loved one back. The Jackson County prosecutor said she could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dominic Miller, 20, was the initial aggressor.

The Kansas City Police Department paid nearly $11 million to settle lawsuits over police misconduct and wrongful deaths during this fiscal year. As Kansas City faces budget issues and World Cup security demands, some city leaders want to exert more control over these growing legal costs.

Legal settlements paid by the Kansas City Police Department for fatal shootings and other excessive force cases are among the reasons Chief Stacey Graves has called for “drastic” cuts. The mayor and city council will soon attempt to take back some control of the purse strings.

Critics said Heather Hall, a former Kansas City councilwoman, could not be impartial. Missouri state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Northland Democrat, led the opposition to Hall's appointment.

Missouri Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern says former Kansas City Councilwoman Heather Hall, who is married to a retired KCPD officer, cannot be impartial. Nurrenbern needs to sign-off in order to send Hall’s nomination to the full Senate by a Feb. 6 deadline.

Officer Blayne Newton wasn’t supposed to be in Jackson County in June 2023 when he killed two people and injured a third. Prosecutors there were refusing to take his cases because of his history of using excessive force.

Acknowledging that the decision might be "deeply painful" for the victims' families, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced that she won’t file charges in an incident in which Officer Blayne Newton killed two and injured a third person, despite her concerns about his behavior. Newton, a nine-year KCPD veteran, is still on the force.

Replacing the French blue shirt and wool pants worn since 1984, the new uniform is all navy blue and has a freshly designed shoulder patch. “The look and the feel of our police force is changing,” said Tom Whittaker, chair of the Board of Police Commissioners.

After several years of record homicides and other violent crime, Kansas City leaders now point to a decrease in homicides, nonfatal shootings, burglaries and property damage. Police Chief Stacey Graves attributed it to more officers and a citywide focused deterrence program.

Kansas City lauded its new “collaborative public safety” model for breaking the lease of a downtown convenience store, which attracted 184 police calls over two years. But Downtown Market, at 11th Street and Grand Boulevard, is still open.

The Kansas City Police Department got money from the city and the police foundation to grow its fleet of drones and expand its use of an AI information-sharing software. This and similar technology is used in departments across the country as part of a “drones as first responders” program.