police

Cameras with license plate-reading capabilities are used by law enforcement agencies and cities around the U.S., including in Missouri and Kansas. But some residents are resisting the surveillance.

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.

Missouri voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2024 mandating that state-controlled police departments be given 25% of their city's general revenue. Although Kansas City was the only such department at the time, St. Louis Police was taken over by the state last year.

Two people have been detained in connection with the theft of equipment from the England national team's vehicles during their move from a pre-training base in Florida to Kansas City, where they have their permanent World Cup base camp.

Olathe's police chief says an officer has faced undisclosed disciplinary action after calling an ICE hotline and directing federal agents to the location of a traffic stop in February.

The city settled with the parents of Maria Pike, who was the mother of 12-week-old Destinii Hope, and with Destinii's father. Their attorney says it's the largest settlement in a police brutality case ever in Missouri.

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.

The size of the settlement has not been made public.

The Independence Police Department internal affairs commander says the city discriminated against older officers and looked the other way on deputy chiefs’ drunken driving incidents.

Newly appointed University of Missouri-Kansas City Police Chief Daniel Graves faces opposition from the university's student body. In 2021, Graves wrote a letter advocating for former Kansas City Police Detective Eric DeValkenaere, who was convicted of killing 26-year-old Cameron Lamb.

Newly appointed University of Missouri-Kansas City Police Chief Daniel Graves wrote a 2021 letter advocating for former Kansas City Police Detective Eric DeValkenaere, who was convicted of killing 26-year-old Cameron Lamb. Students plan to organize a protest against Graves' hiring.