Parson fills open seat on Kansas City police board, but some are critical of the pick

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has appointed a corporate executive to fill an open seat on the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners.

Thomas Whittaker, executive vice president and chief legal officer for J.E. Dunn Construction, will replace Don Wagner, who stepped down from the police board at the end of 2022.

Whittaker has been with J.E. Dunn for more than 29 years and has served on the board of the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission. In addition to that, he is a past president of the Kansas City chapter of Associate General Contractors.

Whittaker earned his undergraduate degree in construction science from Kansas State University and a law degree from the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Whittaker could not be reached for comment about his appointment.

Kelli Jones, a spokeswoman for Parson, said Whittaker needs to be confirmed by the Missouri Senate before assuming his duties on the board.

“We anticipate this taking place the third or last week of this month,” Jones said.

Kansas City is one of a few cities in the United States that does not control its police force. The department is overseen by the five-member Board of Police Commissioners. Four members are appointed by the governor and as Kansas City mayor, Quinton Lucas occupies a fifth spot.

Lucas said in a tweet that he looked forward to working with Whittaker.

“Tom Whittaker is a friend. So long as a Board of Police Commissioners exists in our city, Tom is someone who will work to build a more collaborative relationship between the Board and all voices in our community. He also shares my commitment to making Kansas City safer for all,” he said.

Faith leaders and civil rights activists have frequently criticized the police board for how it handled former Police Chief Rick Smith, who they said protected officers accused of killing Black men and using excessive force against minorities.

They said Parson ignored their demands to replace Wagner with someone from Kansas City’s East Side or someone who would hold fellow commissioners and the department accountable.

“There’s no doubt that Tom Whittaker is a great human being,” said Darron Edwards, lead pastor of the United Believers Community Church. “The question must be asked if he is a great fit for a board of police commissioners.

“We need commissioners who can hear the cries of the people and not simply look down from the top floor of J.E. Dunn and make decisions about the people.”

Edwards said once he learned about the appointment, he asked 10 well-connected people if they knew Whittaker and what kind of person he is.

“I’m still waiting for someone to say they even know him or even heard of him,” he said.

Lora McDonald, executive director of MORE2, a Kansas City social justice group, told The Star on Thursday that she was disappointed with Whittaker being selected.

“In the past nearly 20 years, more than half of the appointees have been Caucasian men,” McDonald said. “When you look at the people we elect, as a municipality, it doesn’t look the same demographically.

“We deserve our police board to look like a board of people we would elect as a city. Think about it, in those same two decades, we have only had one white guy as mayor,” she said.

Lucas recently accused two of his fellow police commissioners of violating the Missouri Sunshine Law by meeting secretly to discuss legal matters. He said the two-member litigation committee, which is a subcommittee of the police board, has frequently met with private attorneys to discuss pending lawsuits and map out legal strategy.

None of the committee’s meetings have been posted.

David Kenner, board secretary and attorney, said the meetings don’t have to be posted because the committee does not represent a quorum of the five-member board.