The Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) has sent 48 officers to Washington, D.C., at the request of the DC Metro Police Department and other federal partners for the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

In the fall, KCPD was one of a few departments contacted and requested to help with the ceremony, Public Information Officer (PIO) Sgt. Jake Becchina said Wednesday.

“Our officers will be participating along the route similar to providing security for other parade events,” Becchina said. “All participating officers were deputized by the US Marshall’s service with a temporary deputization to allow their participation.”

KCPD Public Relations (PR) Specialist Sarah Boyd is also in D.C. at the request and sponsorship of the Major City Chiefs Association. 

“She is one of only 4 PIO/PR specialists from across the country helping DC metro with public information, as well as chronicling the work of police across the country helping with the ceremony,” Becchina said.

Boyd will provide updates through the KCPD twitter account, @kcpolice, throughout the day.

Also in attendance are Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and former City Councilman Jermaine Reed.

In the days following the rally and riots in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, KCPD released a statement in regards to the attendance of KCPD officers. At the time, they were working with federal partners to investigate the matter, and had not received any information that members of the department had participated in illegal activities on that day.

“We do not routinely track the off-duty travel plans of our employees,” according to the statement from KCPD. “We have a code of conduct that governs our employees’ actions both on and off duty. We are unaware of any of our members violating our policy or the law.”

However, the department did request that if anyone had information that employees were involved in illegal misconduct, it should be shared with KCPD, who would then investigate.