When Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves stepped into the top cop job here, she promised to work toward improving her department’s relationship with the diverse communities that make up this Midwest city.
Graves, the 48th and first permanent female chief of the KCPD, assured residents she intended to prioritize open dialogue and rebuilding neighborhood trust. It seemed clear, at least to me, that she understood how critically important it is for a community to trust its law enforcement to effectively provide citywide public safety.
Knowing and being able to achieve that — especially in a city where such trust had been shattered by previous police leadership — are drastically different. So Graves took the job knowing she had a steep hill to climb…