Public Safety

A state law prevents companies like Evergy from being sued if police place cameras on the utility poles they own. Some Kansas lawmakers worry that expands police powers too much.

The mayor's acknowledgement on Monday confirms what St. Louisans had suspected and feared: Residents were not given a warning for the first deadly tornado in the city since 1959.

Crime around the Linwood Shopping Center is steering customers away from the Sun Fresh grocery store at 31st Street and Prospect Avenue. The store's operators say the city needs to address infrastructure and public safety improvements in the area.

The city council approved a plan that will begin the process of building a temporary jail facility. The trailer-like buildings will be completed before the World Cup and will house detainees until the city’s permanent jail is built.

Kansas City officials have said the bulk of the money generated by the quarter-cent public safety sales tax will go toward a new municipal detention center.

Missouri will hold municipal elections on April 8. Voters across the Kansas City area will weigh in on issues like investing in public safety, improving infrastructure and electing their school board members. Here's a guide to what's on your ballot, plus what you need to vote.

Kansas City voters soon will decide whether to renew the public safety sales tax. City leaders would use that money to build a new jail, but not everyone likes the idea.

Kansas City voters will decide on April 8 whether to renew the public safety sales tax for 20 more years. Officials plan to use the bulk of the money to build a new municipal detention center. Despite concerns about property crime and gun violence, some residents don’t want a new jail built.

Voters in Independence, Missouri, will consider whether to approve a $197 million general obligation bond on April's ballot. The majority of the money would fund building a new police campus, but money for infrastructure and the city's youth sports complex are also under consideration.

Kansas City voters will be asked in April's election whether they'll support a renewal of the city's public safety sales tax, which city officials want to use to fund a new jail. Plus: A small park in Westwood has sparked legal battles, heated city council meetings and even protests. Now, voters will decide its fate.

The community policing and engagement plan is one of the last major actions required by a 2016 federal consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice. "We are not the police department of 2014," said one longtime resident.

Financial troubles with the KCATA could come at a cost to bus riders in the future. A budget shortfall could mean the end of free bus service, a reduction of routes and layoffs if the agency can't secure additional funding. Kansas City Mayor Pro Tem Ryana-Parks Shaw says that no matter what, service will look different in the future.