My first week as Chief

(Chief Richard Smith was sworn in as KCPD's 45th Chief of Police on Aug. 15, 2017.)

It’s been just more than a week now since I was sworn in as the Chief of Police of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department, and it has been a whirlwind. I again thank the Board of Police Commissioners for giving me the opportunity to serve in this role. I am humbled and honored to do so.

I’d like to share with you a little about my first week as Chief. Last Thursday, the 17th, I met with all of our commanders and directors to discuss my vision for the department and how I think we can work together to achieve it. I have three primary goals:

1. Set employees up for success

2. Reduce crime and address neighborhood issues

3. Become more efficient and effective through partnerships.

There are many, many factors that go into achieving these things, and I’ll be sharing those in the future. But I wanted to give you a few examples of each of them now.

Set employees up for success- To better cope with the growing mental health crisis that is falling more and more on law enforcement, all patrol officers will receive Crisis Intervention Team training. This will allow every responding officer to have the tools and training necessary to respond to people in mental health or substance abuse crisis in a way that ensures everyone is safe and the person gets needed assistance.

Reduce crime and address neighborhood issues- We’re implementing patrol division-level crime intelligence meetings. Commanders of each patrol division will be held accountable for the crime in their areas. And as soon as staffing allows, all patrol division stations will have an additional community interaction officer, making for 12 altogether. I think this is one of the most important positions on the KCPD, as these officers serve as the points of contact for all neighborhood concerns.

Become more efficient and effective through partnerships- We are working to get social workers assigned to each patrol division in the city. We started this last year when I commanded Central Patrol Division, and our social worker addressed numerous social problems that had evolved into public safety issues, from unruly gatherings of youth on the Plaza to neighborhood disputes. She has been able to step in and resolve things in ways law enforcement could not, and I am certain this would be beneficial city-wide.

I’ve also spent my first week addressing staffing issues. We need to get more call-takers and dispatchers in our 911 Call Center, and we need to get more patrol officers on the streets as soon as possible. They are the heart of what we do as police.

So in the past week, I’ve visited employees in many units around the department. Some were the officers in Central and East Patrol Divisions, and I paid two visits to our Communications Unit to let them know that we are working to get more quality personnel hired to reduce their workloads and improve service to the people of Kansas City. Our patrol officers and communications professionals should know that their hard work is so appreciated and vital, and I am supporting them during these challenging times.

I’ve also been to multiple crime scenes and several protest events. It is very difficult emotionally, but I will continue to be out at crime scenes to see how our people are responding, and if we are doing the most we possibly can to get witnesses to come forward and send the right message to victims’ loved ones and bystanders. I also hope to continue to grow my understanding of what leads to these tragedies and to support the hard-working KCPD members who respond to these incidents. I also will be at demonstrations and events because I’d like to hear the community’s concerns and be accessible.

My first week as Chief of Police has certainly been eventful, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I look forward to serving you.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org. 

Come tell us what you think Saturday

I invite all community members to come share their concerns, thoughts and ideas with me and police department leaders tomorrow morning.

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department is hosting an open forum from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 5 at the Mohart Multipurpose Center, 3200 Wayne Ave. Police commanders and community interaction officers will be in attendance, as will a representative from the Office of Community Complaints and the leaders of several city departments. These department and city leaders will sit in the audience while you share your thoughts.

We will not be there to talk at you. We will be there to listen to you.

For the first hour and 45 minutes, police and city representatives will sit in the audience listening to what you have to say. At 10:45 a.m., police commanders will meet one-on-one with you. If you have a specific public safety problem you’d like to see addressed, we will ask you to sign a community contract. This contract will outline the mutually agreed upon action steps to be taken by you and police to address the issue and will ensure both parties follow up on these actions. The follow-up is key.

I really hope you can make it out tomorrow morning. The police are here to serve you, and we need your input to be successful.

Commanders get called out

When an emergency happens in Kansas City, I want everyone on this department from the top down to be able to respond. That’s why we conducted a commander call-out earlier this week, the second since I took the office of Chief of Police.

The goal was to have all commanders (deputy chiefs, majors and captains) respond to and work through a critical incident exercise. I want all commanders to be more involved in large emergency events, and I want them to exercise their critical thinking in a situation they don’t face on a regular basis. It’s one of the reasons I require all commanders to do regular ride-alongs with patrol officers. I want them to stay in touch with street-level policing.

They did not know this week’s call-out was coming. The only people who knew were the five department members who created and administrated the exercise and me.

At 1:15 p.m. Monday, I ordered the Communications Unit (this was a test for them, as well) to notify all commanders to report to the Police Academy immediately, no matter where they were or what they were doing. Once there, they were randomly divided into groups and presented with the critical incident scenario: A man wearing an explosive vest walks into Police Headquarters during the Republican National Convention (which Kansas City is hoping to host in 2016) and demands the convention be stopped. We let them take the scenario from there. There weren’t necessarily any right answers. I wanted to ensure a few very basic points were covered – such as activating the Emergency Operations Center and calling an Operation 100 at Headquarters.

Everyone did an excellent job. I was impressed with their teamwork. No one pulled rank, and everyone listened to each other’s ideas. That cooperation is necessary because a critical incident of this scale would certainly be handled by a group of commanders, not just one. Working through this kind of scenario allowed them to activate and utilize all the resources the department has available, such as manpower, specialty units, federal partners, neighboring law enforcement agencies and other city departments like Emergency Management and Fire.

I want us to be responsive in a critical incident, not reactive. In the police world, those are two different things. Responding to an emergency means coming in with a rehearsed plan of action. It means police know what needs to be done and who needs to do it, and they put their plan into action as soon as possible. Reacting to an emergency means police are unprepared and chaos reigns. A critical incident is not the time to work out details. Exercises like this week’s ensure we are responsive.

Right after I became chief, we conducted a much less-involved exercise in which I ordered the Communications Unit to contact all commanders and tell them to come to a location to see how quickly they responded and how they used their take-home vehicles. That covered response, but I wanted this to engage their critical thinking skills.

This will not be the last time such a surprise exercise is conducted. Why? Because someday it might not be an exercise. It might be the real thing. If it is, I want a department of men and women who are prepared, regardless of their assignment. Future exercises will include regional, state and federal partners.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org. 

Staff inspection commanders are street-level coaches

This story from our monthly Informant newsletter explains the staff inspection commander positions I implemented when I became chief. These majors help me know what's happening on the street, both with officers and with major crimes and crime trends. Check out the story below:

Major Melvin Harvey and Officer Charles Chambers tried to dispurse suspected drug activity in a park.

The title might be intimidating, but the department’s two new staff inspection commanders aren’t out to check whether officers are polishing their shoes.

“They’re street coaches and counselors,” Chief Darryl Forté called them.

Forté assigned majors Anthony Ell and Melvin Harvey to the new staff inspection positions when he was named chief in October 2011. Since that time, the majors have been out trying to assist officers on the ground and facilitate community relationships.

“They are two well-respected, high-ranking commanders who are basically the eyes and ears of the command staff,” Forté said. “They’re not to be the watch dogs of the police department. They’re the first phase of organized community policing. They can set the tone for others as leaders.”

Majors Ell and Harvey acknowledged not many department members understand what their position entails.

“At the early onset, people thought I’d be doing a lot of inspecting,” Major Ell told the Board of Police Commissioners. “I think they’ve gotten more comfortable seeing what I do.”

Major Harvey concurred.

“The unknown scares them,” he said. “I’m more of a support role. And I get out and talk to the community and see what their concerns are.”

Major Harvey said he spends two to three hours every day checking in with community members. They often call him with concerns, too, often about their perception of how police handled a situation.

“I get the officer’s side of the story, and see if we can come to an understanding about why the officer is doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Harvey said.

Chief Forté said members of the community are largely comfortable coming to Ell and Harvey with their concerns.

“Between the two of them, they know everyone in the city,” Forté said.

Harvey said he’s also there to assist officers however they might need it, especially if they need other elements to respond and don’t have time to send their request through the chain of command.

“I can get them through the red tape,” Harvey said.

Major Ell did just that when a barber was killed during a robbery on Nov. 16, 2011. A witness saw someone flee from the scene into a nearby apartment building. Officers on scene needed help securing the building so they could track down the possible suspect, so Major Ell got a tactical squad there quickly. Two suspects were apprehended and charged two days later.

Ell said his duties vary greatly.

“On certain days, I may roll up on an accident, and you may see me conducting traffic on 19th and Broadway while officers work the accident,” Ell said.

Harvey said he also does pro-active work, like helping a grocery store owner at 39th and Kensington get rid of people who are dealing drugs behind his store.

But both Ell and Harvey said they respond to major incident calls, speaking with officers on scene. Harvey said he sometimes uses this opportunity to coach officers and advise them. He said he’s not out to get anyone and hasn’t written up a single officer.

Chief Forté said staff inspection commanders were around when he first joined the department, and he doesn’t want the position to be the same as it was then.

“The perception was they were out to capture you doing something wrong, but this isn’t like that,” he said. “We want them to develop relationships with the rank and file. They’re out there every day, making calls with them and talking to residents and businesses.”

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Commanders on the streets

The new year has brought a new requirement for command staff on the police department. I have asked all commanders who are not assigned to patrol operations in the field to spend time out on the streets. All commanders (captains, majors, deputy chiefs and me) must now complete one evening shift and one over-night shift in patrol every six months. I want the command staff to remain familiar with activities out in the field and with street-level officers. Since I was named chief, I also have required a deputy chief to respond to every homicide scene. I have been to all but two.

The members of the Kansas City Police Department need to be in touch with the community we serve, and that applies to the highest-ranking people in our organization. Staying behind a desk all the time doesn’t allow for the citizen engagement that is necessary to build trust and relationships.

Additionally, commanders need to know the issues that are facing our city and our officers. They need to be aware of trends in crime and violence. They need to know if officers are experiencing issues that need addressing – anything from problems with computers in their cars to nuisance properties to morale.

So expect to see a little more brass on the streets in 2012.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.