Insiders: KCPD Chief's Poverty Claim Might Precede Her Departure

Today we have a bit more EXCLUSIVE info to share on the QT and very hush, hush . . . 

INSIDERS FEAR KCPD CHIEF SMITH MIGHT HAVE STARTED HER EXIT BY COMPLAINING ABOUT POLICE BUDGET WOES!!!

Here's the word . . .

"The Chief took bad advice on this strategy. Mayor & Council have always complained that public safety dominates the budget and asking for more cash simply isn't a good look. Sure, the unions might provide some obligatory support but they'll have to admit that begging for money looks WEAK and might even inspire a closer look at the police budget which is heavy with  support staff & exceptionally generous equipment spending. The reality is: Chief Smith will be testing her political influence if she wants to start a budget battle and she might find that her support doesn't run very deep." 

 To be fair . . .

With the World Cup on the horizon, the Chief could be smart to raise budget concerns about police cash and hopefully pull more federal funding. 

Still, we can't deny that asking for more money in this economy is a very calculated political risk. 

For now, we share more deets on the mainstream view of this story . . .  

The department’s 2025-26 appropriated budget was $343 million, a 7.64% increase from its 2024-25 budget of $319 million. The amount of the department’s budgetary imbalance wasn’t immediately provided.

“Effective immediately, all overtime not critical to basic operations is suspended,” Graves wrote in the letter, saying that any necessary overtime, on-call or extenuating circumstances require prior manager approval. “I understand the nature of our jobs do not always allow for these kinds of drastic reductions and there may be some temporary adjustments to schedules and services to ensure we continue to provide a high-level of public safety service.”

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

KSHB: KCPD Chief Graves announces ‘drastic cost-reduction measures’ to solve ‘budgetary imbalance’

Developing . . .