Kansas City Star: KCPD Can't Be Trusted

Once again we're watching a new low in Kansas City editorial practice. 

This isn't the last straw or the tipping point but merely the ongoing demise of a great institution that that this cowtown is witnessing with regret.

We'd like to believe that, even in the digital era, there's a path forward for the last almost-daily newspaper in a major metropolitan city. 

Sadly, the newspaper is content to repeat 12th & Oak talking points rather than offer any unique insight or perspective. 

But let's make it plain . . . 

KANSAS CITY STAR UNDERMINING TRUST IN POLICE AMID THIS 2023 HOMICIDE SURGE IS IRRESPONSIBLE!!!

 In fact, it's an active disservice to the community and public safety. 

Again . . . We have our legit disagreements with police, especially their recent political choices . . . We'll get into that later. 

HOWEVER, taking aim at trust in police is NEXT LEVEL rhetoric that will (continue to) have serious implications on local streets.

To be fair . . . 

Editorial scribes are often to timid to devise this kind of garbage on their own . . . Instead, we contend that this destructive logic (or lack thereof) emanates from our mayor & so many members of council who have engaged in drawn out war with police leadership and "local control" despite the ongoing murder surge. 

As always, we ask readers to judge for themselves . . .

Here's the money line . . .

Why should we — or any resident of Wyandotte County — have confidence in the agency’s decision to hand the investigation into Henderson’s death across the state line to Kansas City, Missouri, police? We don’t, and for good reason.

The KCPD can’t be trusted to investigate its own officers when they’re involved in fatality shootings.

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

6 days after KCK police killed a man, KCPD is silent. How can we trust investigation? | Opinion

We wish we could say with a degree of certainty that we can trust the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department's handling of an investigation into how a traffic stop ended in the shooting death of 25-year-old Amaree'ya Henderson of Kansas City.

Related reading . . .

A whistleblower claimed KCPD withheld evidence in criminal cases. The Police Board denies it

The Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners announced Monday that a former Kansas City Police Department employee's claims that the department unethically funneled criminal evidence away from prosecutors and denied public records requests was "inaccurate."

You decide . . .