If Kansas City police commissioners kept track of problem officers who should no longer be on the force, Dylan Pifer has to be at the top of the list. He should be followed out the door by anyone else who has failed to uphold their oath to protect and serve.
In a recent column, I wrote that Chief Stacey Graves and the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners — which includes Mayor Quinton Lucas — should offer buyout packages to any officer with a violent past. My story was in response to Lucas’ recent proposal to use the city’s legal expense funds to help cover litigation costs when the department is sued. In this fiscal year alone, the agency has paid close to $11 million in legal settlements.
Last month, Kansas City police officer Blayne Newton had multiple use of force incidents under his belt when Graves and the police board ushered him out the door with a $50,000 separation agreement. Lucas and his fellow police commissioners should be proactive and offer trouble-making cops $50,000 to go away, I wrote. I concluded that offering buyouts to wayward officers would be much cheaper than paying for their reckless behavior while in uniform…