KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department is investigating a police ride-along involving U.S. Senate candidate Eric Greitens.
A criminal investigation is being conducted into prohibited political activity, according to a department spokesperson.
While Greitens, a former Missouri governor, is not under investigation, a KCPD employee is under investigation and has been placed on paid suspension.
The KCMO Board of Police Commissioners said KCPD never approved Greitens to use video of a ride-along in his social media post. When asked to take down the video, he complied.
Retired KCPD Sgt. Pete Edlund says he agreed with Greitens' message in his campaign video but questioned if it should have been made with KCPD resources.
"I don’t know if being at North Patrol Division and going on a ride-along was … it's to his advantage, but I don’t know that it’s to the police department's advantage," Edlund said.
Greitens was asked to remove the video by a KCPD spokesperson in reference to a Missouri statute. Part of it reads, "No officer, agent, or employee of the police department of such cities shall permit any solicitation for political purpose in any building or room occupied for the discharge of the official duties of the said department."
Edlund says such rules were clear during his many years on the force.
“We can’t take sides," Edlund said. "We don’t take sides when we deal with the public, anyway. We take a side against bad guys, but we don’t take sides and we can’t express our political beliefs to the public.”
