Three Kansas City women have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Michael Parson, Attorney General Andrew Bailey and others alleging a law governing large police departments in Missouri is unconstitutional.
Barbara Johnson, Nicole Price and Narene Crosby filed their complaint in federal court against Parson, Bailey, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners including Cathy Dean, Dawn Cramer, Tom Whittaker, Mark Tolbert and Mayor Quinton Lucas.
The lawsuit alleges Chapter 84 regarding police departments in St. Louis and Kansas City is unconstitutional as it violates the Fourteenth Amendment by targeting Kansas City's Black residents for a separate and unequal policing structure. The law was passed in 1861 to control the St. Louis Police Department during the Civil War, according to the complaint.
Chapter 84 sets forth the current policing structure for Kansas City which establishes a board of police commissioners appointed by the governor along with the mayor. It applies to cities with more than 300,000 citizens and less than 700,000 citizens. Only St. Louis and Kansas City fit into this category.
The plaintiffs claim these statutes unlawfully erode the political power of Kansas City residents by implementing a form of state policing free from electoral accountability; not allowing residents to voice how tax dollars are spent on police department; denying residents a say in policing policies and refusing to implement any type of accountability or discipline.
The plaintiffs are represented by Spencer J. Webster of Webster Law LLC.