Three Black women have filed a landmark federal lawsuit against the state of Missouri, challenging its control over the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD).
The women argue in their suit that the state’s governance perpetuates systemic racism and denies equal rights to Black citizens.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the lawsuit points to the historical roots of the arrangement, tracing back to a law enacted in 1861.
This law, the plaintiffs claim, was originally designed “to keep Black people captive, and to deny Black people basic human rights and dignities.”
According to KCUR, the lawsuit contends that the governance structure of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners serves as “an effort to keep slavery legal and Black people in chains,” echoing a controversial arrangement that favored the Confederacy during the Civil War era.
Narene Crosby, one of the plaintiffs, whose son Ryan Stokes was killed by the KCPD in 2013, expressed her frustration, stating:
“My family has gotten no apology, no accountability, and no justice. They took my only son and then called it a ‘tragic mistake.'”
The lawsuit highlights the lack of accountability within the KCPD, alleging that the department operates with impunity.
It points out that while residents of Jackson County can vote for their sheriff, the democratic process is denied in the case of KCPD leadership.
Kansas City stands as the only U.S. city without local jurisdiction over its police force, a legacy of Confederate efforts to control the metropolis and its weapons caches.
Under the current system, the governor appoints four seats on the police board, while the mayor holds the fifth and final position.
This lawsuit represents a significant challenge to longstanding structures of governance and raises important questions about racial equity and justice in law enforcement.
