KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A police board meeting not open to the public is expected to address use of force policies as well as police and community relationships in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mayor Quinton Lucas is one of five members on the police board. The other members include attorneys and a pastor.
Police policies have been put in the spotlight after the death of Minnesota man George Floyd while in police custody.
Protests have been held across the country, including in Kansas City, where demonstrators have called for accountability.
One demand has been for body cameras, which the city said they will get.
Mayor Lucas said he spoke with Missouri’s U.S. Senators about federal funding for body cameras.
“I'm not lying, we're kind of broke. But that doesn't mean that these are not very important. We understand that there is a path through the federal process through which we can try to fund body cams. Both the department supports body cams, the city council, my office certainly does, and we do agree with so many who protest and so many who have spoken and agree with the fact that it's time to get this done,” he explained.
Money for body cameras is coming to KCPD thanks to a donation from the DeBruce Foundation. The department posted about the donation on Twitter and said the money would allow the agency to start buying the cameras.
Beyond body cameras, Mayor Lucas added that he is also arranging for any instances of misconduct by officers to be reviewed.
”What we're saying is that we're establishing a process for any incidents in which the public has significant concerns, for those to be reviewed, for those to be reviewed by an independent source, and for us to be able to make sure that we are doing the review that is necessary so people know that we're following good policies and good rules," he said.
