The Kansas City Police Board of Commissioners doesn’t have a single representative from the city’s east side, which neighborhood leaders and advocates say shows disrespect and lacks accountability to the Black community.
In July, Gov. Mike Kehoe appointed Heather Hall, a former Kansas City councilwoman from the Northland, to the five-member board. Hall has strong ties to the police department as her husband is a retired KCPD sergeant.
Kansas City and St. Louis are the lone U.S. cities that don’t have control of their police departments. State control of Kansas City’s department has been in place since 1939, and in March, Kehoe signed a bill that restored the St. Louis Police Department to state control, reversing a statewide 2012 vote…