Pendergast-era law requires immediate removal, referral for prosecution if violation is found

The Kansas City Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation of the Friday ride-along by former Gov. Eric Greitens as a possible violation of a 1940s law enacted to root out political corruption linked to notorious political boss Tom Pendergast.

All the department’s records surrounding the ride-along are closed because they are now part of an “ongoing criminal investigation,” Sgt. Jacob Becchina wrote Tuesday to The Independent in a response to an open records request.

Greitens, who is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate as he tries to make a political comeback, alerted supporters about the ride-alongs in two tweets Friday he has since deleted.

Greitens posted a 15-second video taken from a hand-held device telling supporters he was getting ready for his ride-along and, a few hours later, a video almost two minutes long with images of police cars and the North Patrol Division building.

“The ride along was approved by command staff at the North Patrol Division,” Becchina wrote on Monday in an email to The Independent.

Greitens was not given permission to make a video and the tweets were deleted at the request of the department, Becchina wrote.

The Kansas City Star reported that a member of the department has been placed on paid administrative leave. The department would not name the employee.

Becchina told The Independent that a criminal investigation was...

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