By Paul Thompson

Northeast News

June 20, 2017

At least one of the two finalists for the Kansas City Police Department’s open Chief of Police position should be a familiar name to Northeast residents.

Major Rick Smith, former East Patrol and current Central Patrol Division Commander, was named as the only local finalist for the position during a Thursday, July 20 press conference conducted by the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC). The second finalist is current Norman, Oklahoma Chief of Police Keith Humphrey. A third finalist, former Detroit, Michigan deputy police chief Ulysha Renee Hall, removed herself from consideration when she accepted the role of Chief of Police in Dallas, Texas earlier this week.

“We think both of these men bring strong backgrounds in police work, many years of experience, leadership ability and intelligence, and an ability to get along with the community that they police,” said Leland Shurin, President of the Board of Police Commissioners.

Mayor Sly James, also a member of the Board of Police Commissioners, said that he’s looking for the next Chief of Police to come in and build an efficient police department in the way that it responds to crimes. Ideally, James said, that candidate can engage with the community in a way that builds trust. While community engagement was always a strength of former Chief of Police Darryl Forté, James said that he doesn’t expect the new Chief to mimic his predecessor.

“We don’t expect anybody to come in and imitate somebody else; we expect them to come in and do the job using their own methods,” James said. “But we expect things to get better, not worse.”

In an exclusive interview with the Northeast News following the announcement, Major Smith described the feeling of being selected as a finalist to serve as Kansas City’s next Chief of Police.

“After 29 years of policing in Kansas City, to be considered for the top job is truly an honor,” Smith said. “I’ve had wonderful texts and emails of support, which is really humbling and really needed at this time. I really appreciate that; it energizes me to move on.”

The BOPC acknowledged that the next Chief of Police will be forced to confront significant citywide issues. Kansas City’s homicide numbers are on pace to increase for the third consecutive year, and a police staffing study recently concluded that the department is top-heavy and in need of more officers on the patrol level. That being said, both Shurin and James noted that violent crime is a community problem that will need a community solution.

“It’s not all policing that is going to reduce homicides,” Shurin said. “There are a lot of societal issues, but clearly the Chief of Police will have a lot to say and do in how we go forward in fighting to reduce homicides.”

“I think that we need to be realistic and understand that we didn’t get into this homicide situation by one Chief not doing something and another Chief doing it, and that’s not how we’re going to get out of it,” James added. “The response to homicide has to be a citywide community response.”

Though Smith was guarded about what immediate steps he would take if named as Kansas City’s next Chief of Police, he told the Northeast News that he’d likely look to make some changes to the Kansas City No Violence Alliance (KC NoVA).

“There are some really good things about NoVA,” Smith said. “I believe in focused deterrence, and I believe in having a social advocate position. I think that NoVA also has limitations, and I would like to work around the limitations and build on the strengths.”

At Central Patrol, Smith has gone so far as to embed a Social Services Coordinator within his division. Smith tapped former NoVA social worker Gina English for the role, which he would like to see implemented throughout the department.

“The success with Gina can be duplicated at every division,” Smith said. “When we put a social service advocate with the police, that’s the team that needs to be fielded to have success.”

The next step for Smith and Humphrey will be a public Q&A session with Kansas City residents at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 27, in the Community Room at KCPD headquarters (1125 Locust). Area residents have been encouraged to submit questions for the candidates prior to the meeting. Those questions can be emailed to BOPC Secretary/Attorney David Kenner at dkenner@levycraig.com, BOPC President Leland Shurin at LShurin@sls-law.com, or BOPC Assistant Bethany Ruoff at Bethany.Ruoff@kcpd.org.

For his part, Smith said that Kansas City residents can expect him to bring the same approach to that Q&A session as he brings to all of his interactions with the community.

“I’ll be honest, open, and handle the problems just as I handle them now as a Division Commander,” Smith said.