Jay-Z’s Team Roc is Suing Kansas City Police over Misconduct
Rapper Jay-Z’s Team Roc organization is suing the Kansas City Police Department over allegations they covered up instances of police misconduct.
The lawsuit filed on Monday September 20, in Wyandotte County, Kansas’s district court, is requesting a look at records of investigators with the department, and specifics such as training and supervision.
Team Roc lawyer Alex Spiro told the outlet that previous documents authorities submitted under the Kansas Open Records Act were ‘not sufficient.’
The lawyer continued, ‘Because of the 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.
‘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.
According to legal docs viewed by the outlet, the KCKPD has consented to submit documents ‘pertaining to the complaints made against members of the Investigative Division,’ but ‘refused to produce documents pertaining to any steps that the city has taken in response to those complaints, including any investigations or disciplinary proceedings initiated as a result of the complaints.’
The suit from Team Roc was filed amid activists requesting a probe of the KCKPD by the U.S Department of Justice amid recent accusations of misconduct and discrimination against police in Kansas City, Kansas.
Among them included a police officer accused of a sex crime with a minor; two officers charged with felony and misdemeanor assault on an inmate, and a race and gender discrimination brought against the department by a Black female officer.
Lawyers for Team Roc said ‘these documents will help identify the scope of the problem, any potential evidence of a cover-up, and also the potential causes.’