KCPD chief denies allegations regarding ticket quotas

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The chief of the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department is denying an allegation that officers were directed to target minorities in an apparent effort to meet ticket quotas.

The full statement from Chief Stacey Graves said:

KCTV5 News has acquired a copy of the lawsuit. It alleges the police department violated the MHRA in multiple ways during the plaintiff’s 21 years with the department. In the lawsuit, the acronym MHRA references Missouri Human Rights Act, R.S.Mo. § 213.010. R.S.Mo. stands for “Revised Statutes of Missouri.”

There are six counts the lawsuit accuses the police department of:

• Count I: Race discrimination and harassment in violation of the MHRA
• Count II: Age discrimination and harassment in violation of the MHRA
• Count III: Disability discrimination and harassment in violation of the MHRA
• Count IV: R.S.Mo. §213.070 retaliation in violation of the MHRA
• Count V: Retaliation for worker’s compensation in violation of R.S.Mo. §287.780
• Count VI: Whistleblower retaliation in violation of R.S.Mo. §105.055

Within the lawsuit’s general allegations, it states: “Beginning in approximately 2015, KCPD has continuously and repeatedly advised Plaintiff and his fellow officers that if they did not fulfill a ‘ticket quota’ then they would be kicked out of the unit and sent straight to ‘dogwatch’ which is an overnight shift viewed by many as undesirable and frequently worked by officers with low seniority. This directive came straight from the then Chief of Police Richard Smith...”

Within the same section, the lawsuit continues and states: “Throughout Plaintiff’s employment with KCPD, Plaintiff has advocated on behalf of his colleagues and specifically reported that he believed he and his colleagues were being directed to engage in potentially racially discriminatory treatment toward African Americans and other minorities which created safety concerns and a hostile work environment.”

Within Count I, the lawsuit states: “Mr. [Redacted] is Caucasian male who has complained to Defendant about him, and his colleagues being directed to engage in potentially racially discriminatory treatment toward African Americans and other minorities.”

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