TKC Friday Face Off: Dead-Tree Media Against Kansas City Police!!!

It has been too long since we've had a good old-fashioned FACE-OFF here on TKC.

And so, for your afternoon rage-pr0n displeasure we offer a peek at Kansas City dead-tree media "institutions" taking political pot shots at po-po.

Mind you, none of this helps worsening demoralization and departures amongst the KCPD rank & file OR the escalating KCMO homicide count.

Nevertheless . . .

Here's the progressive talking point print media info from within and outside of paywalls . . .

New study ranks Kansas City Police Department one of the worst in the country

The Kansas City Police Department says the data that ranked it as one of the worst-performing in the nation is incomplete. But a study known as the Police Scorecard was based on publicly available information submitted by law enforcement agencies. And the results were telling.

KCPD ranks 495 out of 500 police departments in national law enforcement accountability study

A report that collects data based on police arrests, personnel, funding, incarceration rates, and homicide clearance rates from official federal and state databases-such as the FBI Uniform Crime Report, among others -released its findings concerning KCPD recently.

The response so far . . .

In Kansas City, a Black person was 4.3 times more likely than a white person to be killed by police in the years 2013-2020, the research showed.

Gwendolyn Grant, president of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said she was not surprised by the findings “at all.” She said her organization has tried to bring light to issues such as use of deadly force from the police and how it affects the Black community in Kansas City.

The report further validates those concerns, she said.

“We have consistently brought forward clear evidence that KCPD overpolices in the Black community, that they continue to employ broken window theory of policing, which is ineffective, that they consistently violate the civil rights of Black Kansas Citians, that they operate without transparency, and accountability, that the Board of police Commissioner’s refuses to hold the chief and the police department accountable,” Grant said. “So the report just pretty much says it all.”

Dr. Vernon Howard, Jr., president at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, said the data in the study was shocking and appalling . . .

“This information that you see from an external, outside, independent source is reflective of the pain and the suffering that our communities undergo every day with law enforcement in this city.” Howard said.

In fairness, check reaction from KCPD . . .

Sgt. Jacob Becchina, a police spokesman, provided a written statement saying police officials reviewed the study and had concerns about its validity.

“A review of this data with our partners who professionally research and study the field of criminal justice leaves many questions about completeness, validity, and methods of information gathering, as well as comparison and analysis,” Becchina wrote in an email to the local rag. “Those questions are not clearly answered, nor explained, on the website.”

You decide . . .