Jay-z’s Team Roc files a lawsuit against the Kansas City police department over allegedly covering misconduct. In order to materialize police reforms in the country, Jay-z’s Team Roc has filed a lawsuit in the district court of Wyandotte county, Kansas accusing the police department of allegedly covering police misconduct and racial behavior.
The law firm known as Team Roc which is known to be the philanthropic branch of the hip-hop artist’s rock label, Roc Nation has stated that they plan to sue the department in order to get access to the records of the KCKPD investigative division along with the acquisition of documents related to the supervision and training of the officers of the department.
Attorney Alex Spiro who will be representing the Team Roc in the said case stated that they have asked KCKPD to give them access to the information in question especially to the Kansas open records act but the documents provided in return are “not sufficient.”
He exclaimed “because of the Kansas public records act that allows interested parties to look at various states and government documents, we’re allowed to see certain files and how the government handled certain issues.” Spiro further added, “the government has attempted to block our access to those files, and so we’re suing to see what they don’t want us to see.”
The Kansas City Police Department released an official statement which said “the unified government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS has received notice that Roc Nation has filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in the Wyandotte county district court today regarding an earlier open records request. The unified government has previously produced hundreds of the requested records per the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) with some exceptions.”
Nancy Chartrand, the public information officer of Kansas City stated “KORA does not require disclosure of personnel records and criminal investigation records, for example, without specific circumstances. In response, Roc Nation has filed a 28-page petition stating there is a special interest in disclosing all records so the public can seek justice. Once the petition has been thoroughly reviewed, the unified government will follow up by filing a response.”
The lawsuit comes just in time as the pressure from the local activists grows for the US Department of Justice to thoroughly investigate the KCKPD over a string of incidents that were leaked showcasing police officers allegedly misconducting and showcasing discriminating behavior.
