Kansas City Police Department

Mayor cites progress for city's houseless population as one of the best achievements of the year.

A voluntary survey indicated roughly 48% of KCPD employees had been vaccinated — below Kansas City’s overall vaccination rate of 52.1%. But the department didn't check how many people responded compared to its total staff.

Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith continues to be surrounded by controversy — between conflicting reports about his retirement and increased calls for him to be fired immediately after audio of him calling the victim of a police shooting "the bad guy" surfaced. Plus, what we know about the omicron COVID-19 variant following its discovery in Missouri.

For the first time ever, a Kansas City officer was convicted in the fatal shooting of a Black man. A Jackson County judge on Friday found detective Eric DeValkenaere guilty of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the 2019 death of Cameron Lamb. Plus, hear what's going on in Kansas City's important redistricting process.

DeValkenaere is the first Kansas City law enforcement officer to be convicted for the fatal shooting of a Black man. Following the conviction, the department suspended DeValkenaere without pay.

Prosecutors contend that once a high-speed car chase ended, there were no urgent circumstances requiring Eric DeValkenaere and his partner to trespass on private property with guns drawn without first obtaining a search warrant.

In August 2015, the body of 36-year-old Danielle Wilson was found in an alley near the crossing of East 29th Street and Myrtle Avenue. Police and Wilson’s family members urge people with information about Wilson's death to come forward.

Prosecutors say Eric DeValkenaere acted carelessly and recklessly in going onto Lamb’s property without probable cause or a warrant because there was no obvious crime in progress at that point.

DeValkenaere’s indictment by a Jackson County grand jury in June 2020 came amid heightened scrutiny of police practices across the United States following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Family and friends hope the Ryan Stokes Memorial Basketball Court near East 40th Street and Wayne Avenue will restore the name of a man killed in 2013 by a Kansas City police officer.

Several leaders of Taking KC Back, which is leading an effort to recall Mayor Quinton Lucas and multiple City Council members, have close ties to the Kansas City Police Department.

Capt. Everett Babcock thinks the new eyewitness identification policy will help prevent wrongful convictions.