KCmorgue - Data

By The Numbers: KCPD

Use of Force & Fatalities

KCPD officers use deadly force at rates higher than the national average for departments of comparable size.
KCPD kills more than 95% of U.S. police departments (Police Scorecard data).
A disproportionate number of victims are unarmed individuals or people in mental health crises.

Racial Disparities

Black Kansas Citians are disproportionately targeted at every level of enforcement: traffic stops, pedestrian checks, use of force, and arrests.
The KCPD force is approximately 77% white in a city where roughly 30% of residents are Black.
Studies and consent decrees in other cities have shown that such disparities are not the result of differential rates of criminality but of biased enforcement patterns and over-policing of Black neighborhoods.

The Cost of "Law and Order"

Missouri state law mandates no less than 25% of Kansas City's general revenue go to KCPD. This began as an anti-corruption measure in the Pendergast era. It now prevents the city from allocating funds to:

Affordable housing initiatives
Public health infrastructure
Youth programs and violence interruption services
Mental health crisis response teams

External Data Sources

Mapping Police Violence — National database of police killings.
Campaign Zero — Policy recommendations and use-of-force data.
UIC Epidemiology Project — Police violence as public health issue.
Police Brutality Center — Documentation and legal resources.
Police Scorecard — Department-level metrics on policing, arrests, use of force, racial disparities.
ACLED — Political violence and demonstration data.
Gun Violence Archive — Gun violence incidents.
Fatal Encounters — People killed during interactions with police.
KCMO Open Data — City of Kansas City official data.

(Local analysis of KCPD stop-and-frisk data, settlement payouts, and use-of-force visualizations coming.)

Settlements & Payouts

The KCPD has a history of large settlements for misconduct, wrongful death, and civil rights violations. These are paid from the city's budget — taxpayer money — but the department faces no operational consequences because the BOPC, not the city, controls policy and discipline.

2025–2026 Budget Overrun: The KCPD's annual settlement budget was $2.5 million. The actual payout was nearly $11 million — more than four times the allocated amount. The city council learned of the overrun through a leaked internal email rather than official financial reporting.

Officer Blayne Newton: Killed two people in separate incidents. Faced no criminal charges. Was paid approximately $50,000 to resign rather than face termination proceedings.

Historical Pattern: KCPD pays out millions annually in settlements. Because the department is state-controlled, the city cannot reform the policies that produce the misconduct. The city pays the bills; the state controls the spending.