Missouri voters pass constitutional amendment requiring increased Kansas City police funding

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August 9, 2024

From the Associated Press in connection with NBC News

Kansas City is the only city in Missouri that does not have local control of its police department — a state board oversees the department’s operations and budget.

Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Quinton. Andrew Harnik / AP file

Missouri voters have once again passed a constitutional amendment requiring Kansas City to spend at least a quarter of its budget on police, up from 20% previously.

Tuesday’s vote highlights tension between Republicans in power statewide who are concerned about the possibility of police funding being slashed and leaders of the roughly 28% Black city who say it should be up to them how to spend local tax dollars.

“In Missouri, we defend our police,” Republican state Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer posted on the social platform X on Tuesday. “We don’t defund them.”

Kansas City leaders have vehemently denied any intention of ending the police department.

Kansas City is the only city in Missouri — and one of the largest in the U.S. — that does not have local control of its police department. Instead, a state board oversees the department’s operations, including its budget.

“We consider this to be a major local control issue,” said Gwen Grant, president of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City. “We do not have control of our police department, but we are required to fund it.”

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