By John Sharp
On January 26 the Kansas City Police Department welcomed its largest police academy class of 50 cadets since 2007, and KCPD officials are confident that once the cadets complete their academy classes and on-the-job training the additional officers will allow the currently understaffed department to improve law enforcement and public safety throughout the entire city.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said she is very encouraged by this class and told the Board of Police Commissioners, “…with this new class we are quite literally ushering in the next generation of KCPD.”
“It really blows me away to see the number, but also the diversity,” said Captain Justin Pinkerton, KCPD employment unit commander. “It just goes to show the efforts of the recruitment team getting out in different segments of the community, and not just KC, but across the country.”
South Patrol Commander Major Kari Thompson noted when the new recruits complete their training and begin their duties, the increased staffing will allow South Patrol to increase its crime prevention initiatives such as its Take Back the Block program which assigns officers to personally contact residents in neighborhoods experiencing relatively high crime rates to show them how they can work with KCPD to keep their neighborhoods safer.
She said the increased staffing also will allow KCPD to strengthen its domestic violence prevention efforts, to expand juvenile crime prevention and mentorship opportunities and enhance collaboration with offender rehabilitation and reentry organizations while still having adequate staffing to effectively combat violent and property crimes.
The cadets are set to graduate in August and will then enter a 10-week break-in period when they will team with an experienced field training officer before being cleared for full duty on their own.
Captain Jacob Becchina, commander of the KCPD media unit, said KCPD considers full staffing to be 1,408 officers, 44 of which would be in the academy. With the 50 new recruits, the department will have 1,228 officers, 96 of which are in the academy – the 50 new recruits and an earlier class of 46 recruits scheduled to graduate this spring.
This additional staffing is the second recent piece of good news regarding public safety in the city. On January 5, KCPD released statistics showing instances of several categories of serious crime in KCMO fell significantly from 2024 to 2025, with reported non-fatal shootings dropping 31%, robberies dropping 27% and stolen vehicles dropping 32%. There also were significant decreases in reported stealing and property damage.
The department has requested approval in the city’s budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year starting May 1 for 50 additional officers.