The Charter Commission Public Comment Session

On Jan. 9th at City Hall, the Raytown Charter Commission held the first of two scheduled sessions focused on public comment.  The layout had the podium facing the Commission and well in front of the audience. In order to video record a better view than the back of the person commenting, the camera was placed in a location and left recording a fix picture of the podium for the entire meeting. It should be noted that The editor of RaytownOnline.com pacticipated in the public comments.

Editorial Comment

One of the benefits of owning a news website is that you get the last word. I am taking advantage of that benefit to get the last word. A large portion (some of which is listed below) of the qualifications for Chief of Police are vague.  Qualifications for any office should be precise and not open to debate on what meets the requirement. The term “considerable knowledge” is very imprecise.  The attorney that the Commission hired made the point that if lawsuits arouse over whether someone met these vague qualifications, it would not be the city that would be getting sued, and that the suits would likely fail. That is likely correct, but it does not cover all undesirable consequences and side effects of the vagueness, possible legal liabilities that this leaves an elected official open to, and possible costs bother financial and in the potential public fights that may ensue. 

The only benefit to this potential for a public fight in the courts and in the campaigns, would be that it could lead to sensational news copy for the media. I am willing to forgo that benefit. I may report controversy and scandal, but prefer not to encourage it. 

vi. Candidates for the Chief of Police shall also possess:

1) considerable knowledge of the principles of modern police
administration and police methods;
2) considerable knowledge of the principles and accepted good practices
and procedures as applied to patrol, traffic control, criminal investigation, and
crime prevention;
3) knowledge of the standards by which the quality of police service is
evaluated and the use of police records and their application to police
administration;
4) knowledge of the types and uses of the weapons, automotive
equipment, and the equipment used for communications, personal safety, and
digital information management in modern police work;
5) knowledge of the functions of federal, state, and local jurisdictions and
authorities as they relate to police work; and
6) ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other
city officials, state, county, and federal authorities, civic leaders, and the general public.