KCPD Deputy Chief Karl Oakman discusses violent crime statistics in Kansas City during a town hall conversation, led by Center Planning's Stacey Johnson-Cosby.
Tracking to be Deadliest Year on Record
by Mary K. King
Violent crime is on the rise in South Kansas City with the
community seeing 13 murders in 2020. Compared to none at this time in 2019,
some area activists are asking what local law enforcement is doing and what the
community can do to keep their neighborhoods safe.
On Saturday, June 27, the Center Planning and Development
Council, Hickman Mills United Neighborhoods and the Southern Communities
Coalition teamed up to host an in-person and virtual town hall meeting to
discuss crime and safety in South Kansas City. The discussion, led by Center
Planning’s Vice President Stacey Johnson-Cosby, included representatives from
the Kansas City Police Department, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office, and
COMBAT, with Mayor of Kansas City Quinton Lucas, and Jackson County Sheriff
Daryl Forte.
“I was absolutely floored and shocked and had no idea,” said
Johnson-Cosby. “I knew if I was shocked, some of my neighbors and peers were
also shocked. So, I thought, let’s find out what’s going on, not only in our
community in South Kansas City, but also statewide. I think the trends are the
same.”
Johnson-Cosby set out to find information on where the
violence is stemming from, who the victims are in these cases, and what steps
are being taken as a city to solve the problem. Most importantly, she said, is
finding out what the neighborhoods can do to create a positive impact in their
communities going forward to help reduce violent crime.
“South Kansas City is not unique in terms of having an
increase in violent crime activity including shootings and homicides,” said
Mayor Lucas. “It is not a trend that is unique to Kansas City, either, as
compared to other American cities. But that doesn’t mean in any way that this
is acceptable for us.”
The City of Kansas City received grants from the Department
of Justice earlier this year related to community policing. Lucas said the hope
is to use those funds to increase policing both with additional officers in the
department and to expand the community policing program throughout the city. He
indicated that the city is facing budget challenges due to COVID-19.
“In a year where two to three months ago we talked about a
$10 million increase in the Kansas City Police Department, now a few months
later there’s conversation of a $10 million decrease. So, we’d be very flat,”
said Lucas. “The challenge with that, of course, is how do you deliver services
to the people of Kansas City? How do we make sure that things like the response
times and some of the other community efforts that are very important can
continue to be those that we support?”
The mayor also indicated that the inability to have
in-person programming due to COVID-19, specifically for teens, has been a
challenge. Keeping young people of Kansas City involved and active over the
summer to help prevent the congregations in parks and public places has proven
to be effective in years past. Swope Park has seen a high number of shootings
already this year, and a lot of the other criminal activity has occurred in
parks, parking lots and open spaces, according to Lucas.
“We know where the challenge is, but in some ways it’s kind
of the idle hands of the youth that has created a challenge for us,” said
Lucas.
He added that his office is making sure that efforts are
increased with South Patrol to provide for continued collaboration with
community organizations, the school districts, and neighborhoods to ensure that
safety remains a top priority. He stated that leveraging those programs that
already exist in the city, such as the No Violence Alliance (NoVA), and working
with those programs is essential.
“Everyone at city hall and on the Board of Police
Commissioners is mindful of the real challenges we have,” Lucas said. “Every
crime, and every issue, is creating grave concerns for all of us.”
According to Mike Mansur with the Jackson County
Prosecutor’s office, Kansas City has seen over 90 homicides since January 1.
This puts the city on pace to see around 175 this year. 2017 was considered to
be the all-time high with 151 homicides. The prosecutor has recently initiated
the Crime Strategy Unit, which is becoming popular throughout the country, and
uses police intelligence to help identify crime spots and trends.
“We also will supplement and make better the most important
cases with that unit,” said Mansur. “They might be involved in special efforts
with evidence in particular cases.”
South Patrol Commander Major Daniel Gates said his team of
officers covers roughly 74 square miles in Kansas City with approximately
69,000 residents, and averages around 39,000 calls for service annually in the
division. Currently, there are 65 officers assigned to South Patrol of all
ranks.
“Just like everyone else, we’ve seen a spike across our
division, across our city, and across the country of violent crimes,” said
Gates. “Of the 13 homicides in South Patrol, nine have seen arrests or charges.”
Gates said five cases are of unknown reasons, five were
either disagreements or arguments involving drug activity, and two were
domestic-violence related homicides. One case involved two deaths. In order to
help alleviate some of the violent crime issues, Gates meets weekly with South
Patrol staff to gather information to ensure they have an understanding about
what is occurring and agree on how to approach the situation to prevent further
homicides. That information is shared with Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith
and the other patrol divisions in the city.
South Patrol has two community interaction officers
dedicated to the area, as well as a social worker assigned to the division.
Gates said the division also has an impact squad, which assists with calls for
service and works to follow-up with homicide investigations or other cases to
help apprehend offenders of violent crimes.
“We do the best that we can,” said Gates. “We protect and
serve. We can’t do that without your help.”
Confidentially, the public can provide information about
violent or non-violent crime to the TIPS Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS, or by
texting or emailing through their website. The TIPS Hotline is separate from
the police departments, and since its inception back in the 1970s, has had a
100-percent success rate with keeping tips anonymous. If tips provided lead to
an arrest for a homicide, the tipster can be rewarded up to $25,000.
Sheriff Forte said that his office signed a mental health
contract last week to bring the county up to national standards for those who
come through the detention facility by providing services to help with crime
reduction across Jackson County. Everyone will receive an evaluation upon
arrival, and those who are deemed to be in need of special services will be
transported out of the jail and taken to proper facilities to receive the care
they need.
“This will impact crime all over the city,” said Forte. “We
are looking at our entire process as a reform effort, from recruitment to
retention to annual psychological profiles. Hold us accountable, from the
leaders all the way down through the organization. We need to talk more, and
after the talking, we need to have accountability measures to make sure that we
change.”
He added that he feels the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
has been dealing with antiquated procedures and equipment. Timing, Forte said,
is everything, and with the current climate with police, he said that now is
the time for him to find the funding to outfit his patrolmen with body-worn
cameras.
“Without trust, though, the cameras don’t mean a whole lot,”
Forte said. “We have to build that trust, one relationship at a time.”
Kansas City Police Department Deputy Chief Karl Oakman said
that a strong partnership is needed to address the violence issue in Kansas
City.
“Over the years, I think we’ve checked ‘partnership’ off
like it’s a box and we really don’t engage like we should,” said Oakman.
“Everyone has responsibility and I think, moving forward, we need to hold
everyone responsible for their part in this partnership.”
He said there are two key factors to addressing the homicide
problem in Kansas City: enforcement and prevention. While he feels that the police
department continues to succeed in the enforcement category, more efforts need
to focus on violence prevention.
“We’ve put a lot of programs in place,” said Oakman. “Do we
want to have 175 homicides this year and toot our horn because we solved 169 of
them? I don’t think that’s progress. I don’t think we should be excited about
that. What we should be looking at is doing both (enforcement and prevention).”
Oakman said he would like to see KCPD increase the
solvability rate of violent crimes while also reducing the number of
homicides. There are a number of
initiatives already in progress; however, due to COVID-19, a lot of those
face-to-face programs have been halted this year. He would also like to have
school resource officers in each high school.
“We always talk about serve and protect, but sometimes we
leave out the engaging with the community part,” said Oakman.
The key thing to remember, according to Oakman, is that
those who want to commit violence or destroy neighborhoods are fine doing it if
they see only the police engaged or just the community engaged.
“What scares people, those who want to commit violence, is
when they see the police and the community working together,” said Oakman. “Not
just working together but getting along and having a common goal. That is the
biggest prevention to violence in your neighborhoods: when the police work with
you and the community works with the police.”
Johnson-Cosby expressed to all the speakers that, as
community groups, they are engaged and willing to work with the police to help
prevent future violent crimes in the southland.
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