JAY-Z’s Team Roc has been applying pressure to the Department of Justice for their ongoing silence on the cases of crime, abuse, and corruption within the Kansas City Kansas Police Department (KCKPD). Back in October 2021, Team Roc filed an open letter with help from Midwest Innocence Project’s Executive Director, Tricia Rojo Bushnell. The letter publicly demands an extensive federal investigation into the KCKPD. Since the DOJ continues to disregard the letters, Team Roc is now taking further action to shed light on more police misconduct.
“TEAM Roc and the Midwest Innocence Project demand that the Department of Justice (DOJ) intensify its investigations into vast claims of corruption, coercion, rape, and murder committed or facilitated by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department (KCKPD),” the opening statement of their latest letter reads. Team Roc and the Midwest Innocence Project have received details and records of 8 FBI investigations into Kansas City, Kansas including corruption, civil rights violations, and racism dating back to the 1990s. The letter also acknowledges the FBI’s belief, “until this office does convict several police officers and hopefully gain the cooperation of some of these police officers, the situation in Kansas City, Kansas, will only deteriorate.”
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On December 20th, 2021, attorney Alex Spiro, acting on behalf of Team Roc, sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. Spiro urged the DOJ to open a pattern-or-practice investigation of the KCKPD, but has yet to receive a response from the DOJ.
If the open letters weren’t enough, Team Roc has also released a video of the victims’ families telling first-hand stories of what is happening within the KCKPD.
Team Roc has not announced the next steps as they wait for a response from the Department of Justice.
