Kansas City Police Board Passes Budget, Mayor Q Preps Another Money Fight

Here's a peek at the next round of fighting betwixt Mayor Q and police.

Here's the summary quote from a lesser blog . . .

The board voted 4-1, with Lucas abstaining. Lucas said the police board would now need to negotiate with the City Council on how it would spend roughly $150 million in the rest of the budget.

“We need to make sure that is reasonable, that it is well spent and it relates to the priorities that Kansas Citians have discussed. So this only begins the conversation,” he said.

The revised budget of $281 million includes pay increases for officers. It’s about $8.1 million more than the $272 million budget request Police Chief Rick Smith initially distributed to board members. That proposal included a 6% increase from the previous year’s budget and calls for money to pay for new police academy classes.

It also includes spending about $10 million to replace the department’s aging portable radio system. The vendor no longer supports the department’s radio system.

Smith said that he wants the police department to add more officers and conduct several police academy classes in the next fiscal year.

It's worth noting that Mayor Q abstained from the vote AND talked about a "disscussion" in distributing the rest of the cash. 

Update . . .

HERE IS THE STATEMENT THAT POLICE JUST RELEASED . . .

The Police Department and the Board of Police Commissioners have put much effort into creating the fiscal year 2022-2023 budget.

Today, the Board voted to approve the proposed budget submitted to them by KCPD Staff.  The requested budget will now be submitted to the City Manager as the next step in the budget process.

The BOPC believes the requested budget, which includes pay raises for employee retention and funds for new recruits, will provide the necessary resources in order to keep Kansas City and its community safe.

We are early in the budget process and look forward to meeting with the City Council on December 7, 2021, to discuss our requested budget and continue the collaboration to meet the needs of our community.

The BOPC would like to thank the police department staff for their hard work in helping prepare this budget.

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Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .

Board of Police Commissioners agree to guarantee $135M for KCPD salaries

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - While the overall Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department budget for the upcoming fiscal year will likely be a lengthy debate, the amount of the budget allocated to staff salary will not be.