kcpd

At the end of July, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves announced that she is retiring from her role leading the department after four years. She joined KCUR’s Up To Date to look back at her time as the first woman to serve permanently as KCPD chief, and to discuss the department’s future.

With Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves retiring after four years, leaders around the metro say the next top cop will need to build on progress in addressing violent crime and repairing police-community relationships. They also want the Board of Police Commissioners to open the hiring process more to the public.

Graves has served the department for more than 29 years, and is the first woman named permanent police chief of the KCPD.

Work crews were up early Sunday morning clearing away Fan Fest from the grounds of the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City. The city hosted its final World Cup match on Saturday, when Argentina defeated Switzerland.

With an estimated 94,000 automated license plate readers in America, police and federal agents can almost track your movements from coast to coast. The cameras have been controversial in cities like Lenexa, Kansas, and Weston, Missouri, and misused by law enforcement in cities across both states.

All 1,100 Kansas City police officers are on duty, there are cops from 11 states helping and KCPD's three helicopters are constantly in the air. The city has been mostly peaceful, with the major exception of a string of shootings along highways before the Argentina-Algeria match. That suspect was found dead by police on Wednesday.

The Kansas City Police Department says there was a 200% jump in cocaine seizures in 2025. KCPD says it was warned to anticipate a spike as the World Cup approaches.

Manny Abarca, now running for Jackson County executive, was banned from Paseo Academy for one academic year for violating a Kansas City Public Schools policy that requires “appropriate behavior” by guests.

Violent crime is down in Kansas City, and leaders point to the success of SAVE KC, a focused deterrence program that helps support people at-risk or associated with violence change the trajectory of their life.

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.

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.

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.