Kansas City Police Department

The new 1,000-bed facility has bright spaces, outside courtyards, open-air gyms and two courtrooms. This will replace the current downtown county jail, which is vastly overcrowded and in disrepair.

Melissa Robinson, a Kansas City Council member, will join the Urban League of Greater Kansas City as president and chief operating officer while the organization seeks Grant’s replacement. Grant will officially step down in one year.

The Kansas City Council is considering an ordinance that calls for barring the sale of single-serving bottles of alcohol in five parts of town. The city believes the plan could curb public safety problems like violence, loitering and other crime near liquor stores.

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.

The money will help Kansas City pay for police overtime, buy more cruisers and put ambassadors on public transit ahead of this summer's World Cup. Kansas City will host six matches, and the metro will be the base camp for four teams.

Officer Blayne Newton fatally shot three people and injured others over the course of his nine-year career with the Kansas City Police Department. KCPD called it an “agreed departure.”

At his State of the City address, Mayor Quinton Lucas detailed his priorities for the end of his term and previewed the city’s budget for the next fiscal year, which will see cuts or stagnation in most departments but a major increase in police funding.

In 2023, a Kansas City police officer shot and killed two people and injured a third, but he won’t face criminal charges. And that’s not the only legal settlement involving Blayne Newton. Hear about Newton’s conduct and how it has fanned the flames of tension in the community.

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.

Kansas City elected officials are bracing for a challenging 2026 legislative session. Here’s what they hope to see passed — like World Cup funding — and what looks unlikely — such as local control of the KCPD.

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.

A major breach of the KCKPD has revealed a list of alleged officer misconduct for the first time, including allegations of sexual harassment, excessive force, false arrests and more. Even still, some accusations of misconduct by known corrupt cops, such as disgraced former detective Roger Golubski, did not make the list.