JAY-Z‘s Team ROC company has filed a lawsuit against the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, and the local goverment.
NBC News reports that both entities failed to release police records after allegations claims of corruption and civil rights violations.
Filed in partnership with the Midwest Innocence Project, the suit claims that the Kansas City Police Department has not released substantial documents that pertain to current and former law enforcement officers after Roc Nation submitted a records request in November 2023.
For decades, communities in Kansas City, Kansas — particularly minority and immigrant communities — have been subjected to an alarming pattern of abuse and other serious misconduct by the KCKPD,” the suit read.
“Rather than promoting a culture of transparency and accountability, the KCKPD has a long history of turning a blind eye to (at best) and even covering up (if not worse) abusive and/or corrupt conduct by its officers,” the suit continued.
The Kansas City Police Department and the Wyandotte County/Kansas City have “stonewalled” the plaintiffs for almost a year. Under the Kansas Open Records Act, the plaintiffs were charged $2,200 in fees.
Of the 225 documents released, most show officer shifts and assignments. Others are training materials and department policies. No documents related to “any complaint or investigation into even a single instance of misconduct by any member of the KCKPD.”
Dania Diaz, Team Roc’s managing director, says the organization has only received three of the sixteen documents they requested.
“This filing is because human beings with badges have betrayed the public’s trust,” Diaz said. “That type of behavior must be held to a standard.”
In 2022, Team Roc spearheaded an investigation into former Kansas City police Det. Roger Golubski. Eventually, he was indicted on charges of federal civil rights crimes for sex crimes against Black women. He was also charged with framing citizens for crimes they did not commit.
The suit alleges that minority and immigrant communities were “subjected to an alarming pattern of abuse and other serious misconduct.”
“Rather than promoting a culture of transparency and accountability, the KCKPD has a long history of turning a blind eye to (at best). Even covering up (if not worse) abusive and/or corrupt conduct by its officers,” the suit stated.
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