Jay-Z & Team Roc Puts Pressure On Department of Justice To Investigate Kansas City Police Department Corruption

Jay-Z

Jay-Z & Team Roc Puts Pressure On Department of Justice To Investigate Kansas City Police Department Alleged Corruption

Jay-Z’s social justice group, Team Roc are continuing their fight to help bring awareness to the injustices and corruption that face our system. On Tuesday (Jan.18) the social justice organization slammed the U.S. Department of Justice for failing to investigate “vast claims of corruption, coercion, rape, and murder committed” by Kansas City’s police department. According to reports, Team Roc has partnered with the Kansas City-based Midwest Innocence Project to get the Department of Justice involved in investigating the alleged corruption within the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department (KCKPD). 

Last month, Team Roc wrote a letter that requested the agency to open a “pattern or practice” investigation into the police force. The letter read,

“This is more than just a cry for help from middle America..The police and eyewitness reports of criminal behavior perpetrated by members of the Kansas City, Kansas, police department over the past several decades, are staggering. They detail graphic accounts of rape, murder, sex trafficking, and corruption so rampant and so blatant, it would be shocking if even a single allegation were true…And yet your department refuses to act.”

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Team Roc lawyer Alex Spiro said allegations of corruption and civil rights violations against police over the decades are not isolated or one off situations. Reportedly, FBI records dating back to the 1990s highlight that federal investigators found numerous allegations of civil rights violations and that about 200 Kansas City police officers were accused of misconduct and excessive force complaints over the years.

In September 2021, Team Roc sued the police department to obtain records of misconduct, blaming the “blue veil of silence” for corrupt officers getting away with their wrongdoing. Reportedly, the lawsuit cites several reports of alleged misconduct. This year, one officer was reportedly charged with “buying sexual relations,” and last year, another officer was reportedly charged with sex crimes involving a minor.

Along with the open letter, Jay-Z’s organization released a video that featured victims of the police department and their family members. A black woman recounted how the police refused to help her mother because she was a sex worker. Another Black woman claimed that she was assaulted in a police station. She claims that when another officer accidentally walked in while the act was happening, he allegedly ignored the incident by closing the door and walking away.

Attorney Alex Siporo said that Team Roc ultimately hopes that the DOJ will work with them in the investigation and offer their resources to investigate the claims of corruption within the department.

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[Source: 1, 2, 3]