Gladstone Dept of Public Safety
Gladstone is considered an “inner tier” suburb in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is completely surrounded by Kansas City, MO, a densely populated urban center with significantly different demographics than Gladstone. Kansas City's white population is approximately 59% as opposed to Gladstone's ge¿79% white population. While Gladstone is primarily residential, it does have vibrant and active retail areas. These retail districts include big box stores such as Walmart and Home Depot in addition to grocery stores and other retail businesses. Because of these districts and the overall location of Gladstone, there are multiple thoroughfares and arterial roads with mass transit running through the city. These roads are used by many residents of surrounding municipalities to connect to the multiple state and interstate highways that run just outside of Gladstone's city limits in addition to patronizing our businesses. When viewed from that context, it appears that at any one time, the majority of people operating vehicles inside the corporate city limits of Gladstone are not its residents. As demonstrated by submitted statistics, approximately 78% of the stops conducted by our officers are on vehicles operated by non-residents of the driving age population using your 2022 population statistic. Since the numbers clearly show the vast majority of individuals contacted by Gladstone officers during vehicle stops are not residents, comparing the demographics of these drivers to the demographics of Gladstone's residents will result in flawed conclusions. Finally, as a CALEA nationally accredited organization, the Gladstone Police Department is continuously providing training to its members on such topics as bias-based policing and legal updates to ensure a well-trained, professional police force utilizing best practices in our profession.