After years of advocacy, Boston Daniels Park in northeast Kansas City, Kansas, officially began a nearly $1 million renovation Wednesday with a groundbreaking ceremony.
The park is named in honor of Boston Daniels, the first Black chief of police in KCK. Daniels was known for a progressive approach to policing that insisted on community engagement, respect, and addressing the root causes of crime.
Northeast KCK community members and officials gathered at the triangular Boston Daniels Park at 725 Quindaro Blvd this week to celebrate the start of construction that will transform the neglected greenspace into a vibrant community hub.
Tyrone Garner, elected KCK’s first Black mayor in 2021 and himself a former police officer, expressed strong support for the park renovation.
“It’s a great day, especially when you [get to] talk about Boston Daniels and what he meant to the community, he was well respected and well-loved,” said Garner. “This park is beyond deserving of the upgrade that it’s about to receive.”
The renovated park will feature a 5,000-square-foot playground, a picnic shelter, accessible walkways, solar lighting, landscaping, and a seven-foot bronze statue of Daniels along with a placard detailing his history.
“On behalf of the Boston Daniels family, I would like to say thank you,” said Karen Daniels, great-niece of Boston Daniels, who has spearheaded the revitalization effort. “I know that my community will enjoy Boston Daniels Park for many years to come.”
United Government of Wyandotte County Parks Director Angel Ferrara outlined additional improvements planned for the site.
“We’ll be installing a new shelter, which doesn’t currently exist in the park,” said Ferrara. “We’ll also be doing repairs and upgrades to a lot of the flat work within the park, repairing the east entrance wall, and adding some landscaping and solar lighting as well.”
The project, funded through Community Development Block Grants and American Rescue Plan Act funds, is expected to be completed by late summer 2025.
Years in the Making
Boston Daniels Park was dedicated in 1996, a year before Daniels’ passing at 91 years old. The park was previously known as the 8th Street Park and hasn’t been substantially updated since its dedication.
Karen Daniels—Boston’s niece— would bring her grandchildren to the park to play and honor the family legacy. She began to notice the decline of the grounds and tried to fix up the park as best she could: removing trash one day and adding unity marker stones or rose bushes the next.
“It started with a thought that became reality,” said Daniels. “I hope this inspires more families to share their families’ history with the community.”
Nonetheless, the park deteriorated over the years with cracked sidewalks, rusting playground equipment, and limited amenities. So in 2017, Karen Daniels began formally advocating for park improvements by reaching out to the UG, applying for grants, navigating bureaucracy, and hosting fundraisers and awareness campaigns.
“I’m so happy, so emotional, so grateful, so honored and I know my uncle and my dad are looking down and they’re proud of this moment,” Karen Daniels said at the groundbreaking.
Her persistent advocacy ultimately helped secure the $1 million in funding from Community Development Block Grants and American Rescue Plan Act funds that made the current renovation possible.
“We appreciate the vision, resilience, and tenacity of Karen Daniels as she has worked tirelessly to not only bring attention to the life and legacy of the first black police Chief in KCKS, Boston Daniels, but to also facilitate enshrining that amazing legacy through the restoration of Boston Daniels park,” said Mayor Garner.
About Boston Daniels
Boston Daniels was born in 1905 in Foreman, Arkansas, he moved to Kansas City at 23, working as a ditch digger, gas station attendant, and Pullman porter before joining the police force in 1945 at the age of 40.
Over his 25-year career with KCKPD, Daniels worked his way up the ranks and established himself as a masterful investigator with unconventional methods. He became legendary among Minnesota Ave merchants for his shoplifting stings, where he would disguise himself to blend in while monitoring stores. When he was later promoted, the shop owners reportedly called City Hall and police headquarters to protest, hoping for his return to their district.
The day after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Daniels and other Black officers joined Wyandotte and Sumner High School students who left classes to march in King’s memory. Their peaceful demonstration was without incident and stood in stark contrast to riots occurring across the country including in Kansas City Missouri. The episode showed Daniels’ commitment to both community engagement and peaceful resolution of conflict—principles that would define his approach as chief two years later.
“The policeman must be calm and he has to respect the citizens and the community,” said Daniels in a profile from the Kansas City Star in 1970.
Daniels took a humane approach to policing at a time when brutality was often the norm. He rarely drew his weapon and never killed anyone in the line of duty. His interrogation techniques involved sharing a Coke and a couple cigarettes with suspects to build rapport before discussing cases. His methods helped him solve more than 5,000 crimes during his career.
“Better housing, education, health programs, recreational facilities and jobs are the best ways to fight crime—not force or intimidation,” said Daniels in 1970 to Ebony Magazine.
When appointed chief in 1970, Daniels was the first Black police chief in KCK but was also believed to be the first Black police chief of a major city in the country. Though his tenure as chief lasted only one year, he initiated a police cadet program, modernized communications equipment, established an internal affairs unit, and added police substations to improve community coverage.
