Ten Years After Ferguson: The State of Policing

PAST EVENT: AUGUST 5, 2024

Ten years ago, the nation watched as the city of Ferguson, Missouri erupted following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown.  It would spark weeks of unrest and a vigorous debate in the United States about the relationship between law enforcement officers and Black Americans, the militarization of police, and the use-of-force in Missouri and across the nation.

A decade later, what have we learned from the lessons of Ferguson? How did events in Missouri influence those who are willing to wear the badge, the police profession and citizen views of police?

American Public Square and Kansas City PBS hosted an event examining the state of policing in Missouri with law enforcement and civil rights leaders in a Week in Review special moderated by Nick Haines.

Distinguished panelists included:

• • Stacey Graves, Chief of Police of Kansas City
  • Darryl Forte, Jackson County Sheriff
  • Gwendolyn Grant, President and CEO, Urban League of Greater Kansas City and community activist
  • Jean Peters-Baker, Jackson County Prosecutor

This program will air on Kansas City PBS as a special “Week in Review” episode on Friday, August 16 at 7:30 p.m. (CT).  Learn more.

This event was co-hosted by Kansas City PBS and American Public Square at Jewell.

Chief Stacey Graves, a lifelong Kansas Citian, began her career at KCPD in 1997 as a civilian records clerk.  After joining the police academy in December of 1997, she held multiple assignments as a police officer including Central Patrol Division, East Patrol Division, the Drug Enforcement Unit and the Career Criminal Section.  Graves was promoted to Sergeant in 2007.  During her tenure as a Sergeant, she was assigned to Patrol, the Media Unit as a Public Information Officer and she was an Operations Sergeant in the Chief’s Office serving under Chief Darryl Forté.  Promoted to Captain in 2014, Graves was assigned to Internal Affairs, returned to the Media Unit and Patrol.  In 2018, she was promoted to Major. As Major, Graves was the Commander of Shoal Creek Division, Human Resources and served as the Executive Officer in the Patrol Bureau Office.

On December 15, 2022, twenty-five years after starting the police academy, Graves was selected to be the chief.  At 48 years old, Graves became the 48^th Police Chief in KCPD’s 148-year history also becoming the first woman as permanent chief.

Graves obtained her Associates Degree from Penn Valley.  Graves went on to earn a B.A. in Administration of Justice from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and an Executive Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Leadership from Benedictine College.

Sheriff Darryl Forté is the 43rd Sheriff of Jackson County, MO. He is the first African American Sheriff of Jackson County, MO and was the first African American Chief of Police for Kansas City, MO Police Department. During his tenure, Sheriff Forté has made prominent steps to transform the Sheriff’s Office into a premier law enforcement agency. Sheriff Forté has prioritized community engagement, improved organizational effectiveness, and increased internal communications.

Sheriff Forté is an accomplished and highly dedicated law enforcement executive with more than 30 years of law enforcement experience. His educational accomplishments include: FBI National Academy, FBI National Executive Institute, Masters in Liberal Arts, and a Bachelors of Science degree. Sheriff Forté is a current member of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Police Executive Research Forum, Missouri Police Chiefs Association and the Metropolitan Chiefs and Sheriffs Association.

Gwendolyn Grant provides leadership and direction for advancing all Urban League programs and its mission.

Additionally, Gwen is engaged in numerous civic and community organizations, including serving as Chair of the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education and Workforce Development, the Urban Council (a collective of legacy civil rights organizations including the SCLC-GKC, NAACP-KC, National Black United Front-KC, Urban Summit and Urban League of Greater Kansas City), founder and convener of the COVID-19 Collective Impact Collaborative, Founder and Convener of the Police Accountability Task Force, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Tax Incentive Reform Task Force, Park University Advisory Council, President – Kansas City Public Schools Buildings Corporation Board, KCPS Superintendent’s Business/Economic Development Advisory Council, Citizens to Abolish Poverty Education Committee, Black/Brown Coalition, National Urban League’s Association of Executives, and more. Additionally, Ms. Grant is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Urban League’s State of Black Kansas City – bi-annual report on African American progress in economics, education, health, social justice, and civic engagement.

The first female CEO in the affiliate’s 101-year history, Gwendolyn is a strong and passionate advocate for social justice and economic empowerment for African Americans and women. She is the recipient of numerous honors including the National Urban League’s Whitney M. Young Leadership Award for Advancing Racial Equity, William Jewell College Yates Medallion for Distinguished Service, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Community Service Award, 435 Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful, and the National Urban League Association of Executives Academy of Fellows designation.

Jean Peters-Baker was appointed prosecutor in May 2011 and elected to the position in November 2012. She is only the second woman elected to lead the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.

Over her career in the prosecutor’s office, Baker has served in practically every unit of the office, including Chief Warrant Officer. In 2018, she created a Crime Strategies Unit, to enhance the office’s data analysis and to promote evidence-based decision making. A key outcome was an examination of drug prosecutions in Jackson County, which found significant racial disparities in the cases referred to our office and little effectiveness in achieving meaningful outcomes. Today, the office continues to accept Kansas City drug cases, but it stresses that these cases must have a connection to violence or be a community concern, such as a drug house disrupting the street’s peace.

To address violence, early in her tenure, Baker initiated a new violence reduction effort that now is known as the Kansas City No Violence Alliance.  Using an evidence-based or proven approach known as focused deterrence, KC NoVA in 2014 was able to help the community reduce homicides in Kansas City to the lowest level in four decades.

Baker briefly left the prosecutor’s office in 2010, when she was elected as a Missouri State Representative. She spearheaded the Kansas City Caucus and served as a co-chair of this group to promote economic development issues for the Kansas City area. In 2011, Baker stepped down as state representative and was appointed to the role of Jackson County Prosecutor.

Baker grew up in an Osage County, MO, farming community, received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College in Columbia, MO, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Nick Haines, KCPBS News Host, has led Kansas City PBS’ public affairs division for the past 20+ years. He has earned three regional Emmy Awards, most recently for his coverage of mental health issues. He is best known as the host of the weekly primetime public affairs program, “Kansas City Week in Review.”

Nick is a former BBC radio news reporter. He was born and raised in Port Talbot, a South Wales steel town that also produced actors Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins. Prior to joining KCPBS, Nick served as news director for KANU, the NPR affiliate in Lawrence, Kansas, and was Statehouse Bureau Chief for Kansas Public Radio in Topeka.

Roving Reporter

Kynala Phillips is a communications specialist, engagement journalist and digital production assistant whose work centers on local narratives with national impact.

She is passionate about connecting with new audiences through strong reporting, creative content and memorable events.

Fact Checker

Peggy Lowe is a veteran investigative reporter who came up through newspapers and moved to public media. Lowe strives to give people a better understanding of the criminal justice system by focusing on its deeper issues, like institutional racism, the poverty-to-prison pipeline and police accountability.

Lowe acknowledges that today’s beat is much different from how reporters worked it in the past, saying “I’m telling stories about people who are building significant civil rights movements and redefining public safety.”

Hall Family Foundation

Health Forward Foundation

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The Offices at Park 39

Sue Seidler Nerman and Lewis Nerman

Marny and John Sherman

William Jewell College