Kansas City Police Department

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.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas joined KCUR's Up To Date to discuss the city's projected $100 million budget deficit in 2027, the streetcar extension on Main Street opening later this week and where things stand on new stadiums for the Royals and Chiefs.

Desmound Logan, a car enthusiast and salesman, was tired of hearing about the loud and dangerous sideshows on downtown streets. So, the entrepreneur established a legal, safer place for the extreme car community to gather.

The student at Ingels Elementary School in south Kansas City was on her bicycle in a marked crosswalk and had a green signal when she was fatally struck by a vehicle, according to the Kansas City Police Department.

The UTVs, or Utility Task Vehicles, will allow police to be nimbler and access areas hard for their patrol cars to reach. Equipped with sirens and police lights, officers will have the authority to pull people over and write tickets. The UTV's will be deployed in a variety of downtown areas including the Crossroads and River Market.

The Kansas City Police Department has struggled to recruit new officers for years, especially after protests against misconduct and racism. But Chief Stacey Graves says a record number of new recruits graduated into the department in August, and next year’s class is similarly robust.

In the last six months of 2024, some 6,000 incidents of copper wire theft were reported in the U.S. Only Texas and California had more than Missouri.

Missouri's system often takes years to resolve a misconduct allegation, in some cases allowing officers to move on to a new department. In one glaring example, former Kansas City detective Eric DeValkeneare took five years to surrender his license after being convicted for manslaughter.

Changes to regulations governing Beyond Visual Line of Sight flights will allow approved operators to fly autonomously over longer distances. Kansas City is already expected to host two Prime Air fulfillment sites, each with a fleet of 12 drones.

For years, the Sun Fresh Market at the Linwood Shopping Center provided fresh produce and grocery products to a historically underserved part of Kansas City. Its closure follows months of calls for the city to take action against crime in the area and keep the store afloat.

A Family Dollar store in Kansas City collapsed last weekend, killing a 68-year-old man and critically injuring a 50-year-old woman. Two days before the collapse, a city building inspector was dispatched to the property.

A 10-month KCUR investigation revealed that the Kansas City Police Department accepts liability for approximately two wrecks per month. Over three years, the department paid out more than $1 million in legal settlements.