Council Lady Develops 'New Principles' For Kansas City Police!!!

Don't misconstrue our lead image. 

Sometimes fire can be cleansing . . . For instance, consider the ancient myth of the phoenix rising from the ashes of its predecessor.

To wit and with special thanks to KICK-ASS TKC READERS for noticing this bit of local legislation first . . . 

COUNCIL LADY MELISSA ROBINSON RECENTLY SUBMITTED AN EPIC RESOLUTION WITH NEW "PRINCIPLES" TO GUIDE KANSAS CITY POLICE!!!

Credit where it's due . . . Mayor Q is exceptionally cagey when he talks out of both sides of his mouth on the topic of policing. In fact, Mayor Q habitually shares a reasonable perspective with gullible MSM middle-class reporters AND THEN saves his more "provocative" ideas for protests or East side community meetings where his audience is sadly limited. 

And so, TKC must commend Council Lady Robinson for at least publishing and sharing her intentions for the record at 12th & Oak. 

A few highlights that stand out in this new mandate . . . 

CATCHING CRIMINALS SHOULD NOT BE THE 1ST PRIORITY OF KANSAS CITY POLICE?!?!

 Right off the bat that's a bold start and something that might be disputed by victims of crime.

More . . . 

"Promoting alternatives to arrest and incarceration, addressing the root causes of crime," is an ongoing KCMO theme over the past few weeks. 

It's unclear how much police training council lady Robinson has attained but her new rules will now determine how police officers protect themselves and the public on local streets . . . 

"To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public cooperation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective."

The last point is interesting and shouldn't be lost in all of the verbiage . . . Council lady Robinson judges police on the prevention of crime . . . And, seemingly, she advocates against a heavy police presence on local streets . . . 

"To recognize always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them."

Accordingly and for a good laugh . . .  

Read this EPIC screed and a first glimpse at what "local control" will look like for Kansas City . . .

RESOLUTION NO. 210510

Expressing the City Council’s support for policing within the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and in all communities across the nation, to be built upon principles designed to protect human rights, reduce violence and addiction, and build public respect for, and trust in, law enforcement.

WHEREAS, the first goal of policing should be the prevention of crime and not catching criminals with the intent to punish citizens or suppress their rights; prioritizing low crime rates over high arrest rates; and

WHEREAS, the key to preventing crime is earning public support and building a culture where every community member believes they have a shared responsibility to prevent crime, as if volunteer members of the police force themselves; a culture that can only materialize if the community supports and trusts the police; and

WHEREAS, a police force can earn public support by respecting community principles through hard work to build and keep a reputation of enforcing the laws impartially, hiring officers who represent and understand the community, and using force only as a last resort; and

WHEREAS, the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) is a nonprofit organization composed of police, prosecutors, judges, corrections officials, and other law enforcement officials advocating for drug policy and criminal justice reforms that will make communities safer by focusing law enforcement resources on the greatest threats to public safety, promoting alternatives to arrest and incarceration, addressing the root causes of crime, and working toward healing police-community relations; and

WHEREAS, LEAP advocates for the adoption of core ideas and principles that are critical to the success of policing in America and stem from the principles of Sir Robert Peel (the “Father of Modern Policing”); and

WHEREAS, the City Council of Kansas City is desirous that those same principles be reflected in policing operations in Kansas City, Missouri; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

Section 1. That the City Council expresses its support for policing in the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and in all communities across the nation, to be built upon the following principles:

a. To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.

b. To recognize always that the power of the police to fulfill their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behavior, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.

c. To recognize always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the willing cooperation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.

d. To recognize always that the extent to which the cooperation of the public can be secured diminishes proportionately the necessity of the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives.

e. To seek and preserve public favor, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humor, and by ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.

f. To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public cooperation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective.

g. To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

h. To recognize always the need for strict adherence to police-executive functions, and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers of the judiciary of avenging individuals or the State, and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty.

i. To recognize always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.

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You decide . . .