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History of the Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police
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The Kansas City Police Officers were represented by a regional Fraternal Order of Police lodge for most of the 1990's until 1999, when the Kansas City membership split off to create the Kansas City Police Officers Association. This move was spurred on by Kansas City Police Officers who felt that a single lodge representing only Kansas City Police Officers would give the members an identity, direction, and a singular purpose - moving the Lodge ahead in it's mission to represent Kansas City, Missouri Police Officers in the best way possible, through formal recognition. This primary focus of the Lodge in obtaining collective bargaining was made clear through the statement of the Lodge mission in the preamble of the KCFOP Bylaws.
At a general membership meeting on November 2, 2004 - the membership accepted the following revised preamble in the constitution and bylaws of the KCFOP declaring the mission and focus of our organization. The new mission statement provides a definitive declaration of the direction of the noble pursuit of representing Kansas City's Finest as follows:
We, the members of the Kansas Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #99, a Missouri non profit corporation, believing that by our association we have the facility of mutual interchange of thought, information and opinion, and the opportunity to demonstrate the sincerity of our purpose; whereby the experience of each becomes common to all, and believing this association results in a greater development of our intellectual, professional, moral and social faculties, enabling us to share in the gains and honors of advancing social order; and further believing that education, industry, and moral worth are the true standards of greatness, do hereby pledge ourselves to the use of all honorable means to promote professionalism and fraternalism among our members; as well as our Brother and Sister members throughout the State and Grand Lodge.
We therefore form and hereby associate for the following purposes:
To support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the State of Missouri; to inculcate loyalty and allegiance to the United States of America; to promote and foster the impartial enforcement of law and order; to improve the individual proficiency of our members in the performance of their duties; to encourage sociable, charitable, and educational activities among all law enforcement officers; to ensure that all members are treated fairly and honorably without regard to race, color, creed, national origin or gender; to foster a police environment which is inclusive of, and addresses the concerns of, all segments of the community; to advocate and strive for uniform application of the civil merit system for all law enforcement officers; to create a condition of esprit de corps, ensuring fidelity to duty under all conditions and circumstances; to provide benefits to our members; to promote public service programs to the community; to cultivate a spirit of fraternalism and mutual helpfulness among our membership and the people we serve; to increase the efficiency of the police profession; to advance the moral, social, and material standing of the members of the Lodge by honorable and lawful means; and, as a labor organization, to endeavor to achieve collective bargaining with binding arbitration; and thus more firmly establish the confidence of the public in the service that is dedicated to the protection of life and property.
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As the vast majority of officers in Missouri, including the St Louis POA, were currently represented by lodges who were affiliated with the Fraternal Order of Police, in the early months of 2000 the KCFOP chose to affiliate with the Fraternal Order of Police as the 'KCFOP - Missouri Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #99'. The FOP affiliation was chosen at the time as the best vehicle to represent the members of the KCFOP. As a symbol of this affiliation the FOP star was placed within the KCPD badge creating the formal symbol of the KCFOP.
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Lodge Growth and the Pursuit of Recognition
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This fledgling lodge, created in the waning months of 1999 quickly grew to more than 800 sworn law enforcement members. This number represented an overwhelming majority of the police officers, detectives, and sergeants on the Department. It was clear that the KCFOP's mission and service inspired the majority of the sworn members of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department to join the Lodge in the pursuit of formal recognition for its members. Police representing police was an obvious choice of the rank and file members of the Kansas City Police Department. The Lodge distributed pledge cards in 2004 and received more pledge cards requesting the KCFOP be the bargaining representative for sworn officers below the rank of captain than the KCFOP actually had in membership. A clear statement that the sworn membership of the Kansas City Police Department continued to choose that the KCFOP be their bargaining representative.
In 2008, the KCFOP was reorganized to become the KCFOP Lodge #99.
KCFOP Lodge #99 has sucessfully bargained for two contracts in the last 5 years and many sucessfull advancements in members rights over the last 5 years.
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