Public Safety

The Kansas City Public Safety Coalition, currently made up of 18 organizations, banded together to ensure there was community input into the selection process of the Chief of Police of the Kansas City Police Department in 2022.

The input was achieved through surveys, and Listening Sessions held in all geographic areas of the KCMO community, asking questions about the leadership qualities and priorities that were important in the next Chief. The input was delivered to the Board of Police Commissioners directly at one of their meetings.

Fast forward to 2024, and the Coalition is continuing to meet, to learn for understanding from individuals and organizations working in the public safety space, and to share information and work collaboratively toward common goals of violence reduction. This year, the Coalition presented the community’s first State of Public Safety in Kansas City event, an event modeled after a successful one in the Dallas, TX area. It brought together the leaders of Police, Fire, and EMS in Kansas City to explain how they work together to keep KC safe and then also the opportunities and challenges that each of them still face. In addition, the Coalition presented a documentary viewing of A Tale of Three Cities, a Kansas City PBS partnership that explored violence reduction in Kansas City, Mo.; Kansas City, Kan.; and Omaha, Neb.

Moving forward, the Coalition hopes to keep open dialogue between the City of KCMO, the Board of Police Commissioners, KCPD, and the Kansas City community. There is a foundational understanding that no one organization or individual can single-handedly keep our community safe, it will take all of us working together.

In addition to the work of the Kansas City Public Safety Coalition, which the KC Chamber supports, the Chamber is also a part of KC United for Public Safety, an effort to blend and streamline multiple different violence reduction plans that exist in Kansas City today. Alignment is critical, and business should have a distinctive role and voice in future solutions.

Kansas City Public Safety

Coalition Members