HB1994--POLICEDEPARTMENTFUNDING
SPONSOR: Richey
COMMITTEEACTION:Voted"DoPass"bytheStandingCommitteeon
PublicSafetybyavoteof7to3.
Currently,KansasCitymustdedicateone-fifthofitsgeneral
revenuetofundtheKansasCityBoardofPolice.Thisbill
increasestherequirementtoone-fourth.Thebillalsospecifies
what"generalrevenue"includes.
Thisbillcontainsanemergencyclause.
PROPONENTS: Supporterssaythatthisisresponsetoamovethat
wasmadeinMayoflastyearbytheMayorofKansasCity.Afew
weeksafterthebudgetwasset,therewasamovetoremove$42
millionoutofthepolicedepartmentbudget,amovethatcaughtthe
policechiefandboardbysurprise. Thisisastatutoryresponse
toclarifydetails. KansasCityhas,overtheyears,nottreated
allrevenuethesameasfarascalculatingtheminimumthreshold
forfundingthepolicedepartment. Thisbillwillclarifywhatis
meantby"generalrevenue". Moneyisbeingpulledfromthepolice
departmentanditisunclearwhatitisgoingtogoto,andthere
areotherwaystofundtheotherprojectsthantopull$42million
fromthepolicedepartment,whichisalreadyunderstaffed. Kansas
CityPoliceDepartment(KCPD)doeshaveagreatreputationinan
areawherecrimeratesaretoohigh.Themovetodefundthepolice
wasinretaliationfortheKCPDresidencyrequirementbillpassing
lastsession. Afterthepolicedepartmentbudgetwassubmitted,
negotiated,accepted,signed,andcertifiedbytheboard,there
weretwoordinancespassedthatseverelycutthepolice
department’sbudgetandmovedthefundstootherprojects. The
wholecitycouncilvotedtogivethepolicedepartmentitsbudget.
Themayoralsovotedunanimouslywiththeboardofpolice
commissionerstogivethepolicedepartmentitsbudget.ThenMay
20thhappenedandthecouncilinthedeadofnight,leavingout
somecouncilmembers,passedtworesolutionstodefund$42million
fromthepolicedepartmentandputitinsomeotherfundthat
peoplewouldhavetoasktousethemoney.Thetworesolutionsdid
notgothroughthenormalprocess. Thiswouldnotbeajumpof
millionsofdollars;itjustreplaceswhatthepolicedepartment
hasalwaysbeengiven.Thecourtcasesaidthecitycouldnot
reallocatethe$42millionafterthecitycouncilhadapprovedit.
TestifyingforthebillwereRepresentative Richey;CharlesAndy
Arnold,BoardOfCommissionersKansasCityMissouri;HeatherHall;
andArnieC.Dienoff. OPPONENTS: Thosewhoopposethebillsaythatthiserodeslocal
control. Ithasnothingtodowithdisrespectforlawenforcement
officersthatpatrolKansasCityeveryday.Thislegislationdoes
notguaranteeraisesorrecruitingclassesorpoliciesthatwill
lowerthemurderrateandviolentcrime.Oncethebudgetis
settledandapprovedbytheboardofpolicecommissionersand
councilmembers,themoneyistheirsandtheycanspendithowever
theywant.The$42millionwasnotremoved;itwassetasideto
figureouthowtosolveviolentcrime,etc.Thebillaswritten
doesnotachievewhatitwantstoachieve,whichistocodifythe
holdinginSpink,whichisthecasefrom1955.Crimeisoftena
symptomofpoverty. Themoneyshouldbereallocatedtoreducing
povertybecausethatmighthaveagreatimpactonreducingcrime.
Thisdoesn’tmakeyouantipolice.
TestifyingagainstthebillwereCityOfKansasCity&Greater
KansasCityChamber;andEmpowerMissouri.
OTHERS:Otherstestifyingonthebillsay,ifthemoneyhadnot
beenrestored,thepolicedepartmentwouldhavehadtolayoff480+
officers. Therehasnotbeenaclearplanonwhatthe$42million
wouldhavebeenspenton;94%ofthebudgetissalary.Thebudget
lastyearwas$223million. Theytooka$17millionbudgetcut
lastyear.Theyarewelloverthenationalaverageasfaras
clearinghomicides. Theyclear68%andthenationalaverageis
54%.Ifthepolicedepartmenthadbeenfullystaffed,they’dhave
1412officers. Theyaredownover300officers. Theworkload
continuestogrowwithfewerresources.
TestifyingonthebillwasRickSmith,KansasCityPolice
Department.
Writtentestimonyhasbeensubmittedforthisbill.Thefull
writtentestimonycanbefoundunderTestimonyonthebillpageon
theHousewebsite.