Rick Smith (right) is congratulated after being named a finalist to serve as Kansas City’s next Chief of Police. Smith was announced as the next Chief during a Friday, July 28 press conference.

By Paul Thompson

Northeast News

This week on the Northeast Newscast, managing editor Paul Thompson sits down for an exclusive interview with incoming Chief of Police Rick Smith, who will be sworn in to his new position on the morning of Tuesday, August 15.

Smith talks about the whirlwind past few weeks that found him elevated to the top job within the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, discusses his plans for KCPD’s Community Interaction Officers (CIO’s), addresses the police staffing study that was recently completed by Matrix Consulting Group, talks about his potential contributions to the Chief’s blog (and whether he’ll embrace social media), describes how he thinks the Kansas City No Violence Alliance (KC NoVA) can improve, and lays out his plans to embed a social services coordinator in every patrol division.

Listen to the podcast below, or subscribe to Kansas City’s Northeast Newscast in iTunes to have every episode downloaded to your preferred to device as soon as it’s made available. Thanks for listening!