A bit of insight and explanation about the hold-up in selecting a new KCPD Chief from The Northeast News:
"One reason for the delay is Kansas City Mayor Sly James, said Danny Rotert.
Rotert, communications director for the mayor’s office, said James wanted more time to interview the five candidates and find out their plans for Kansas City.
James also wanted more time for the community to talk with the candidates, Rotert said."
On the subject of the community getting more time with the candidates, I don't see it. In fact, community meetings to talk with candidates have been delayed and from what I see the more ambitious people up for the job are doing outreach on their own.
Another INSIGHTFUL TKC READER notes that Current Chief Corwin isn't getting a lot of influence in the process despite his vast depth of expertise.
Whatever the case . . . Despite the best intentions of politicos and public officials, what I'm noticing is a great deal of KCMO public frustration with this process in its very early stages.
If by "the community" the mayor means the usual suspects like the reves and Al Brooks, he's deomonstrating that he's not really serious about public safety at all. All these '60s "it's our turn" folks demand is that whoever is selected is black.
ReplyDeleteThat's not fair to the candidates, the police department, or the residents of the city and it simply reinforces the same old me vs you crap that has been the hallmark of self-appointed black leaders for decades and has brought the east side to where it is today.
Your chance to turn the page Sly, if you have the guts to say "NO".
Of course they're not paying any attention to Chief Corwin, he's WHITE. It's now open season on white folk at City Hall and the ape-in-charge is handing out favorites..
ReplyDeleteHe should wear a blindfold during the interviews so the candidates race will not be a factor.
ReplyDelete8:49am....."Like"
ReplyDeleteI've heard it is actually down to two of the five candidates.
ReplyDelete1. Ret. DC Ortega (Hispanic)
and
2. DC Forte (black)
There is no big "background investigation" going on. That's just plain BS.
If this is the best this city can come up with, watch for KC to burn!
DEar Mr. Tony: The black neighborhoods of KCMO have been in the midst of a violence explosion since the spring of 2008. The mayor, the Police Board and the city's "leaders" should be focusing on getting the best man or woman as Chief, regardless of race, so as to end that violence explosion. Instead, they are playing these infantile "its our turn" games. Sincerely and Respectfully, Ernest Evans
ReplyDeleteAt this rate the KCMO school board will select their new superintendent before the KCMO police board selects the new police chief. Why is it taking so long?!? They announced they had narrowed the field to five candidates several weeks ago. It shouldn't take that long to narrow from five to one. Background investigations shouldn't take that long. So, why the delay?
ReplyDeleteKansas City . . . prepare yourself for your first female Chief of Police. She white and from Colorado. The delay is in order to figure out how to handle the community backlash when the announcement is made.
ReplyDeletegood for kc i knew there was other people qualified then black or hispanic. maybe this is just what kc needs. outsider who has no ties to anyone.
ReplyDeleteThe gal from Colorado is black. Her name is Tracie Kessee. She is good people. Hope she gets it.
ReplyDeleteSince the KCPD mostly exists to give out traffic tickets and raise revenue why not hire an accountant as chief?
ReplyDeleteIf Kissee is the best they can do for an outside candidate, KCMO police would be better off with one of the local guys:
ReplyDeleteDENVER (CBS4) – A high-ranking Denver police commander has been using a city car to commute to and from work from her home in Elizabeth, 40 miles from Denver, even though the daily commute violated a mayoral executive order, city fiscal accountability rule and directives issued by the Denver police chief, all of which prohibit “take home cars” from going to homes more than 25 miles from Denver’s City and County Building.
“That’s a rule we are all subject to,” said Lt. Matt Murray, a spokesman for the Denver Police Department. “There’s a fiscal rule that says you can’t take a car home” if you live beyond 25 miles, said Murray. “If you don’t live within that range, you can’t take a car home,” said the DPD spokesperson. “Who is exempt from that rule?,” Murray was asked. “Nobody I know of,” he responded.
“I have approval of the chief,” countered Division Chief Tracie Keesee, who is seen by many as a frontrunner to become Denver’s next police chief.
“It’s no surprise to the chief,” said Keesee. She declined to speak on camera with CBS4.
She lives in Elizabeth, deep in rural Elbert County, nearly an hour-long drive from her office at Denver Police Headquarters in downtown Denver. The city rules against long commutes cropped up in the early 2000s to address high gas prices and the dubious benefit of having an emergency responder live so far away in the case of an emergency.
In 2002, Mayor Wellington Webb signed an executive order addressing the city’s vehicle use policies. The order said that to be eligible for a take home car “the driver’s home is within a twenty-five (25) mile radius of the City and County Building.”
Three weeks later, Chief Gerry Whitman issued his own directive writing that, “The employee’s residence, and any personal use, must be confined to a 25-mile radius of the City and County Building.”
In 2006, the city issued a fiscal accountability rule that was updated in 2009 emphasizing take home vehicles can only be taken home if “The driver’s home is within a twenty-five (25) mile radius of the City and County Building.”
Keesee’s commute is costly for Denver taxpayers. Fuel records obtained by CBS4 show that in a typical month, Keesee has to fill up her city SUV three times a week. In May, records show the division chief filled up 10 times and put more than 2,000 miles on the Lincoln Aviator. Figuring fuel costs at $4 per gallon, taxpayers spent more than $500 in a single month to fuel her commute.
Her take home vehicle is one of about 250 DPD vehicles driven home every night. Each take home car user must have a current authorization form on file to be allowed to take a vehicle home.
CBS4 requested Keesee’s take home car authorization forms on June 15. A week later, the department provided two forms for two take home vehicles Keesee has driven since June, 2010. The manager of records for the police department said authorization forms for Keesee beginning in 2005 could not be located. However both forms provided to CBS4 were dated June 15, 2011 and signed by Chief Whitman that same day. Additionally, both forms for Keesee indicated she lived beyond 25 miles from Denver, but that she lived in Parker, which is much closer to Denver than Elizabeth.
In email exchanges with CBS4, Keesee wrote that, “The forms were redone by the fleet Sgt. O’Shea, who took them to Chief Whitman for his signature. Parker was not written in by me.”
She did not offer any further explanation for why her subordinate wrote that she lived in Parker instead of Elizabeth. Keesee was asked how many times she has been called out from home for emergencies in the past year. She did not respond to that request.
Hell I've saw a KCMO Police car at scout camp in Bonner Springs for three days. Abuse, abuse, abuse, abuse....
ReplyDeleteYeah I saw one at a restaurant one time. The cop was eating with his family. Then his pager went off and he had to immediately leave without his family and take off with lights and sirens going while the rest of us civilians stayed at the restaurant and kept spending time with our families. Damn those cops and their on-call responsibilities! I wish my job would allow me to leave my house right in the middle of a good night's sleep or cause me to miss my son's babseball game.
ReplyDelete