kansascity | A week after hundreds of people gathered on the Country Club Plaza to
protest racism and police brutality, Mayor Quinton Lucas sent a letter
to Kansas City police thanking them for their work during the
demonstrations.
The letter, dated June 10 with an official letterhead,
says some members of the public laid at the officers’ feet
centuries-old race problems, and says it was “unreasonable” to assign
blame to rank-and-file officers. It notes the long hours, “harsh
insults” and injuries experienced by police.
Some community
leaders on Thursday questioned the mayor’s focus on the suffering of the
police, noting that Kansas City officers had used pepper spray and tear
gas on protesters, sometimes in ways that sparked sharp outcry from
members of the public.
One Kansas City man has said a rubber bullet fired by police may cause him to lose an eye. Another had his leg violently smashed by
a police tear gas canister. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker
said her office is reviewing video of Kansas City officers who
pepper-sprayed a pair of protesters, arresting one after he yelled at
police.
On Thursday, Lucas said he recognized the concerns protesters raised
but he wrote the letter to acknowledge the many patrol officers,
detectives and others for the work they perform each day to protect the
city.
He noted a female homicide detective he saw examining
evidence and speaking to witnesses following a shooting that left one
dead and four injured near his home at 18th and Vine streets.
“I sent it (the letter) because this is what I’m thinking,” he said. “It
is what I do with anything else and some people will not like and some
people will.”
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