KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has appointed a new member to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners.
Dawn Cramer will fill the seat left earlier this year by former Commissioner Nathan Garrett.
Garrett was opposed to reallocating KCPD's funds, as Mayor Quinton Lucas announced he would do, and fought for the BOPC to remain in control of the police department.
KCPD is one of the only police departments in the country that is controlled by the state, as opposed to local government, which will continue to be a topic for discussion as Cramer takes her seat.
Cramer has lived in Kansas City since 2007, after relocating from Dallas, Texas. She works for Cramer Capital Management, a company she also started in 2007, after a career working in the airline industry.
She founded the Women’s Mastermind Program in 2012, which offers help to women who run small businesses, and the "Let’s Get Jazzed” event, which has raised money for Newhouse, a shelter for battered women.
Cramer currently serves as a member of the Clay County Domestic Violence Board and was a past board member of the Heartland Foundation and Good Shepard Center.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who also sits on the Board of Police Commissioners, released a statement in response to her appointment.
"Earlier this year, I recommended to the Governor's office a bipartisan set of candidates with long experience in Kansas City's civic community for consideration for appointment to this important position. As is his right, he elected not to choose from that group," Lucas said. "I do not know Ms. Cramer, but look forward to meeting her and working with her, so that no more mothers and fathers need to bury their children due to violence on our city's streets."
Lucas also drew attention to violent crime in the city.
“Kansas City this week surpassed 100 murders for the year—putting us on pace to experience yet again one of the deadliest years in Kansas City history," Lucas said. "As the body charged with ensuring the safety of Kansas Citians, the Board of Police Commissioners must commit to changing the status quo in policy that keeps us near the top of the list of America's most violent cities."
