police

A KCUR analysis of data collected from hundreds of automated license plate readers in the Kansas City area shows out-of-state police departments account for thousands of searches. Across the metro, people are demanding a stop to the unfettered collection of their information.

Lee’s Summit police now require every police agency in the country to agree to a set of rules before allowing access to Flock data. The department says they may be ‘pioneers’ in this kind of data protection.

Charles Adair was in the midst of a mental health emergency when he turned himself into law enforcement for old traffic warrants. If sheriff’s deputies at the Wyandotte County, Kansas, jail had followed protocol for a mental health crisis, it might have prevented Adair’s death — which was ruled a homicide due to being restrained with a knee on his back.

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.

St. Charles County Police say they've ceased using Flock Safety cameras after a civilian employee allegedly abused the system for personal reasons. Pulaski County is also ditching the cameras.

Workers were searching for a home equipped for 17-year-old Korbin Papadopoulos' medical needs. Instead, he was sent to a foster home whose caregiver said he wasn't trained or licensed to manage diabetes.

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.

A new lawsuit argues that Wichita's “dragnet surveillance program” of AI-powered license plate readers violates the Kansas Constitution. The city began deploying Flock Safety cameras in 2020, analyzing vehicle details and logging them into a nationwide database without a warrant.

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

Independence police officer Jordan White was placed on leave for post-traumatic stress disorder after fatally shooting a 34-year-old mother and her 12-week-old baby. He alleges he was discriminated against and that the police department did not allow a proper return to duty.

The death of 44-year-old Lloyd Gilmore after he sought help from Sikeston officers has renewed long-standing concerns about racial bias, accountability and police brutality. Gilmore's cause of death still has not been released.

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.