Madeline Romious, an AT&T vice president, has been appointed by Missouri’s governor to the five-member board that oversees the Kansas City Police Dept.
She replaces Mark Tolbert, who is also Black, and was the longest-serving member of the police board, having been appointed in 2017.
The police board oversees a $280 million annual budget, sets policies and makes employment decisions for KCPD and takes control for the department away from the Kansas City mayor and city council.
Romious serves as regional vice president for external affairs for AT&T, a position that has her responsible for governmental and external affairs for AT&T in the KCMO area. She lobbies local, and state elected officials and represents AT&T in the civic and philanthropic community.
Romious holds a master of business administration from Rockhurst University and a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Northwestern University.
Her civic involvement includes serving as chair of KC Arts, secretary-treasurer of the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, and board member of PREP-KC.
In the community, she is a member of the Kansas City Links.
Her police-related experience – while not a requirement for the position – includes serving as a member and past president of the Kansas City Police Foundation, a nonprofit founded by local business leaders to bolster the excellence of the KCPD, help reduce the incidence of violent crime and strengthen police services.
Founded in 2010, the Police Foundation is the only local organization dedicated to raising funds for the police department’s public safety programs providing strategic resources beyond the department’s annual budget.
During the past year the foundation, through the generosity of many community donors, raised and supported over $4.25 million in projects intended to make a safer Kansas City. Projects funded through KCPD by the foundation include social workers, body-worn cameras, a police psychologist, the police/youth initiative and multiple technology improvement initiatives concentrating on improving the safety within the city’s highest crime neighborhoods in KCMO.
Tye Grant, president and CEO of the Police Foundation, said Romious was chair of the board for two years, leading it through an extensive strategic planning process, working with the Kauffman Foundation and other community groups.
“I believe Kansas City will find her to be a new commissioner who will bring a very professional, business-like approach to her new leadership role with the board, along with an objective perspective to each growth opportunity,” Grant said.
The Police Board has five members, four of which are appointed by the governor. The fifth member position is occupied by KC’s mayor.
Kansas City is the nation’s only major city whose police department is governed by a state-appointed board. In other cities, that duty falls to locally elected officials, like mayors and city councils, or to people responsible to them, such as city managers.
