Kansas City board considers legal action on police funding

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The state-controlled board that oversees Kansas City’s police department has voted to initiate legal action over city leaders’ decision to change how some of the department’s budget gets spent.  

Minutes posted on the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners website said board members voted Monday in a closed meeting to authorize a potential lawsuit to enforce their authority over the police department.

The vote was in response to two ordinances passed last week by the city council that would reallocate about $42 million of the department's budget for social services to help address root causes of the city's violent crime.

Opponents charge the change is a roundabout way to “defund” the police department.