I’ve got two concerns about the selection of a new Kansas City police chief. One is general, the other specific.
First, the general…
Under the system we’ve got — been stuck with since the Pendergast days — our police chiefs are selected by a five-member (four members right now) board appointed by the governor.
The days when local officials couldn’t be trusted to oversee the police department are long past; we badly need local control of the department. And the mayor, who is a member of the board, should be making the selection.
Several years ago, St. Louis City, the only other Missouri city whose police department was governed from Jefferson City, won its freedom. In a deal that involved St. Louis area resident and political activist and contributor Rex Sinquefield, the Missouri General Assembly approved a bill that gave St. Louis voters a chance to approve local control. After a campaign largely financed by Sinquefield, that’s exactly what St. Louis voters did. Now, their mayor appoints their police chief, and the city runs the department top to bottom.
We need the same thing, even if it means making some sort of deal with Sinquefield, who also has agitated, unsuccessfully, for elimination of the city earnings tax. The e-tax is off limits; it’s the biggest single generator of general-fund revenue. I don’t know exactly what the deal was with St. Louis, but it was a huge step forward to get the police department out from under state control. So, Sly, put in a call to Rex and see if you can’t get something going…It’s ridiculous we don’t have local control in KC.
Second, the specific…
As you probably know, the next chief will either be Maj. Rick Smith, the internal finalist, or Norman, OK, Police Chief Keith Humphrey.
My concern stems from Smith’s involvement several years ago in the case of Shawn Ratigan, the Catholic priest who is serving a 50-year prison sentence for producing or attempting to produce child pornography. Specifically, he took “up skirt” photos of young girls attending the Northland grade school operated by the parish where he was then assigned.
Smith’s role in the case has not received much media attention, so here’s the context…
Smith and Humphrey, police chief finalists
Smith was a member of a diocesan review board (Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph) that assesses sexual abuse allegations. Then-Bishop Robert Finn and then-Vicar General Robert Murphy knew about the photos but did not initially bring them to the attention of the review board…or the police. A subsequent report revealed, however, that Murphy phoned Smith and told him about a photo of a nude girl found on a priest’s computer.
Murphy himself had not seen the photo, and he described to Smith what he understood the photo to show. Based on Murphy’s description, Smith said it might meet the definition of child pornography but probably did not.
And that was as far as it went, up to that point. Apparently Smith did not contact any other review board members, and he apparently did not ask to see the photo.
Much later, Smith told investigators he was shocked to learn there were hundreds of photos.
…Finn, of course, was ultimately convicted of a misdemeanor count of failing to report child sex abuse, but it took a long time for the full story to come out and for the legal process to run its course.
It seems to me that Smith’s police antennae failed him when he did not press to see the photo. I would think hearing from the vicar general — the No. 2 diocesan official — that a photo of a nude girl had been found on a priest’s computer would set off alarms in an experienced police officer’s head.
Maybe an alarm did sound, but I suspect what happened is that the heavy cloak cast by a big Catholic diocese muffled the sound, and Smith decided to let it go.
Smith wasn’t the only non-clerical official to drop the ball. Diocesan officials also told their attorney, Jonathan Haden, about the photos. Laughably, Haden told diocesan officials that in his legal opinion a picture that did not show sexual conduct, contact, performance or sexually explicit conduct did not constitute pornography.
I guess Haden hasn’t ever looked at porn…Either that, or he, too, was feeling the weight of that Catholic cloak.
So, should Smith’s handling of the question put to him by the vicar general disqualify him from becoming police chief? I’m not sure it should, but if I was on that police board, I’d have a hard time voting for him.
Why does it have to be Sinquefield to change the way the police board is selected. If the city can run a campaign to get street cars and gearing up another for private financing of a new airport terminal, why not a campaign giving the mayor the power to appoint board members? My guess is that the current system gives cover to local officeholders when asked about crime rates.
The problem, Bruce, is we need authorization — either by a constitutional amendment or a General Assembly bill authorizing a vote — from the state in order to have a local election. It’s a plum for the governor to be able to appoint four of the five members of the police board. He doesn’t want to give it up, and neither do the legislators. It’s very hard to regain power once conceded. It was a legitimate thing to do in the Pendergast days, but now we’re stuck. Sinquefield has a lot of power at the state level.
Here’s the story from the other side of the state..when St. Louis got control of our police department we all thought this was going to be a good thing..yeah not so much. At the time of the switch Francis Slay was mayor and the police chief was Sam Dotson a Slay lap dog and former Slay assistant. Dotson was an active duty police officer assigned to the mayor’s office. When Lida Krewson was elected mayor the first day on the the job she got rid of Dotson and started a search for a new chief. Now in the interim we have an in-house chief, Major O’Toole. O’Toole is old school and came up thru the ranks, Krewson has said the search panel will be looking in0side the force and outside as well.
St. Louis has never had a police chief who didn’t come from within it’s own ranks. Rex made inroads in Jefferson City.. wink wink.. to get the bill passed. Quick history lesson, the St. Louis police force was controlled out of Jefferson City since the Civil War days. Now that we have control we are about seven months into the search process and still don’t have a permanent police chief and there doesn’t seem to be a real hurry to one. The police force is about 125 officers short, and since St. Louis County just gave their officers a raise, the city is expecting a mass exodus of senior officers to the county over the next few months. So having control sounds like a good idea but you may want to be careful what you wish for.
Great information to know about, Gus…I had heard some rumblings of dissatisfaction with the changeover but had no particulars.
(Good to hear from you again! We’ve missed your reports from the eastern side of the state. Always good to know what’s cooking over there.)
One of the challenges of this century will be discovering ways to govern our huge urban areas, areas that often sprawl over several political subdivisions and just as many separate interest groups. One party government is becoming the norm in all too many of these metropolitan centers and with it the corruption that accompanies predictable power. Finding ways to keep that corruption in check and maintain independent law enforcement agencies will be a major part of the governing equation.
Just saw where Tony has announced that Rick Smith is the new chief.