Jay-Z’s Team ROC is going head-to-head with the Kansas City Police Department.

On November 19, the social justice organization – the philanthropic and social justice arm of the rapper’s company Roc Nation – filed a lawsuit against the K.C.P.D. over their alleged failure to produce records related to police corruption and abuse.

According to Rolling Stone, Team ROC and the Midwest Innocence Project (MIP), a fellow non-profit organisation, filed the lawsuit against both Kansas City and its police department. The suit is related to a request filed by both parties in November 2023 asking to view documents from the police department, as well as public records from the local government.

The documents in question were regarding allegations that Kansas City police officers engaged in a “longstanding” and “alarming” pattern of corruption and misconduct. Team ROC and the MIP both allege that police and government officials have failed to comply with the request.

“Defendants have stonewalled plaintiffs for almost a year,” the lawsuit reads, per documents obtained by Rolling Stone. “Defendants have produced zero documents relating to any complaint or investigation into even a single instance of misconduct by any member of the KCKPD.”

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Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Team ROC claims that police and city officials used “improper and unsubstantiated boilerplate objections” to fight the process, and “gouged” the plaintiffs in Team ROC and MIP by charging more than $2,200 for documents that allegedly have no relation to their request, and instead include field manuals and training materials. Team ROC goes on to allege the “excessive” fees were levied “presumably in an attempt to discourage [plaintiffs] from pursuing the records at issue.”

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Kansas City residents “have suffered enormously” as a result of police department abuse. “Some have been framed for crimes they did not commit; some have been coerced into providing false testimony; some have been sexually assaulted; some have endured brutal beatings; and some have even been killed,” the legal paperwork reads.

In a statement, Team ROC managing director Dania Diaz said, “We have to set a precedent that transparency and accountability are non-negotiable.”

“For the past year we’ve been pushing for documents from the government and have been continuously met with non-compliance,” Diaz added. “It’s unacceptable – getting access to those materials is critical to exposing the corruption, reforming local policies, and helping the local community heal.”

You can read the full lawsuit here.