Thursday, March 31, 2011

Opening Day at the K, and KCPD

Today is Opening Day for the Kansas City Royals, and we're ready to get all you baseball fans smoothly in and out of Kauffman Stadium. In addition to security inside, we've posted 14 traffic enforcement officers around the Sports Complex. They're at Gates 1, 2 and 3, as well as on Manchester Trafficway. They went out early and are there now to help get all the tail-gaters in safely.

Remember that the new George Brett Bridge next to the Sports Complex opened yesterday, replacing the Blue Ridge Cutoff. There will be a bit of a learning curve. From the Missouri Department of Transportation:

"The new bridge, dedicated to Major League Hall-of-Famer George Brett, a career-long Kansas City Royal, is longer by 14 feet and wider by 18 feet to accommodate changes to I-70. The bridge is part of a $39 million project to also add a third lane of I-70 beneath I-435, a half-diamond interchange at I-435 and Route 40, a collector-distributor ramp system for I-435 to eastbound I-70 and reconfigured ramps at I-70 and Route 40."

So drive carefully, and enjoy the Royals home-opener!

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Impact of earnings tax on KCPD


The 1 percent earnings tax that all who work in Kansas City pay comprises 40 percent of our police department budget. Voters will go to the polls April 5 to decide whether to extend that tax another five years. Without it, police will be forced to make significant cuts. The above chart shows how staffing would need to be reduced during the 10-year phase-out of the earnings tax. By the end, KCPD staffing levels would be the same as they were in 1963.

Because of this estimated reduction, police response to some incidents would be significantly reduced and possibly eliminated, such as non-injury car crashes, burglaries, fraud and forgery. Response times would increase, and elements like the Drug Enforcement Unit, Crimes Against Children Section, Helicopter Section, Canine Section and a Northland patrol division station could be eliminated.

This educational presentation explains more in-depth the estimated impact losing the earnings tax would have on the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

KCPD under-cover squad named Law Enforcement Unit of the Year

A big congratulations is due to our Street Crimes Unit 1930 Squad for being named 2010 Law Enforcement Unit of the Year last week by the Missouri Narcotics Officers Association at the group's annual conference. This award is given to units that exhibit "exemplary performance resulting in positive impact on a community or the law enforcement profession."

It's good to see a group that gets so little recognition because of the under-cover nature of their assignments be awarded for their good work. This group also  received our department's Special Unit Citation in a private ceremony last week for all the work they did leading up to the 2009 and 2010 Violent Crime initiatives (four in all) and Operation BLING. These are the men and women who gather the evidence and intelligence for search warrants in these operations. They work with some of the city's most dangerous criminals to end the plague of violence that drugs bring to our streets.

Good work, 1930 Squad.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Victims of Saturday's suspicious death and homicide identified

At about 3:09 p.m. March 26, police were called to a house in the 5600 block of East 27th Terrace about a dead body. They found 40-year-old Chershia Mayberry dead on the porch. Her cause of death is unknown, and we're awaiting autopsy results. A person of interest (a 40-year-old male) was taken into custody at the scene. Witnesses said they'd heard a disturbance at the home earlier in the day. Investigation is ongoing.

Five hours later, at about 8 p.m. March 26, police were called to 44th and Agnes about passengers in two vehicles shooting at each other. They found two shooting victims at 44th and Bellefontaine. One victim was in fair condition and transported to a local hospital. The other, 17-year-old Monte Wedd, was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses said the victims were in a shootout with individuals occupying a silver passenger car. Detectives are following up on leads.

Anyone with information about either of these cases should call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

Friday, March 25, 2011

Officers to conduct neighborhood roll call in Spanish tonight

PRESS RELEASE:

KCPD patrol officers will conduct their third all-Spanish roll call at 6 p.m. today, March 25, to meet with concerned Spanish-speaking residents.

The roll call will take place at Super Pollo Restaurant, 3253 Independence Avenue. Officers want to meet with residents of the area, learn about their concerns and build relationships with the community. The officers also will tell residents about what initiatives they’re taking in the neighborhood and share crime prevention tips.

At the last all-Spanish roll call officers conducted in December 2010 at another Independence Avenue Mexican restaurant, nearly 30 people attended, and officers received information that led them to solve three crimes.

Some of the officers are native Spanish speakers, and others are graduates of the Department’s Spanish Immersion Program, which puts officers through an intensive 10-week course equivalent to four semesters of college Spanish instruction.

Kansas City Police instituted community roll calls this year to get officers more in touch with the residents they serve. Hundreds of officers have now prepared for their shifts by meeting on front porches, at coffee shops, in apartment complexes and parking lots to get to know their communities.

If you’d like police to have a community roll call at your home or business, call the community interaction officer in your patrol division or the main KCPD number at 816-234-5000 and say you’d like to speak with the community interaction officer in your area.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Victims of weekend homicides identified

As the weather warmed this past weekend, police were faced with investigating multiple homicides. Investigators are still trying to determine whether a dead body found in the 4000 block of Benton on Sunday morning is the result of foul play. We ask the community to work with us to help solve these and, more importantly, prevent more from happening.

* 4 p.m. Friday, March 18: Officers were called to the area of 5400 Swope on a report of a dead body. They found the body of 21-year-old Gary L. Waloke of Kansas City, Mo., in a trash pile behind some houses. Waloke's family reported him missing March 7.

* Just before 3 a.m. Sunday, March 20: Officers were called to the 2600 block of Lawn on a reported shooting. When they arrived, they discovered three people had been shot. One was dead, one was taken to the hospital in critical condition and one had non-life-threatening injuries. The deceased has been identified as 15-year-old Jason Rodriquez.

* Just after 3 a.m. Sunday, March 20: Officers were notified a shooting victim had been taken to a hospital. They determined a car was traveling on 8th Street near Charlotte when another car shot into theirs. One person died, and another was in critical condition. The deceased has been identified as 19-year-old Steven Lee Anthony Jackson.

Kansas City has had 17 homicides in 2011, compared to 19 at this time last year and 23 at this time in 2009. If you have information about any of these cases, please call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. 

Monday, March 21, 2011

52 arrested in weekend DUI checkpoints

Despite our very public warnings that we would be using the new Mobile DWI Enforcement Center to conduct two DWI checkpoints between March 16 and 20, police still arrested a total of 52 drunk drivers on March 17 and 19.

On the night of St. Patrick's Day, we set up a checkpoint with the assistance of Missouri State Highway Patrol and Jackson County Sheriff deputies from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. at 39th Street and northbound Southwest Trafficway. The results of that checkpoint were:

Vehicles Stopped-801

DUI Arrests-41

Driving While Suspended/Revoked-6

So more than 5 percent - or 1 in 20 - drivers stopped that night were driving drunk. That's very frightening, considering 63 percent of the people killed in Kansas City crashes last year had an impaired driver involved. That does not count those who were seriously injured. Channel 5 had a sobering piece about a teen who has to undergo multiple surgeries and lost his best friend thanks to a drunk driver.

The driving-while-suspended number also is frightening. Most of these people had their licenses revoked initially because of drunk driving.

Just two nights later, police conducted another sobriety checkpoint in another spot known for DUI crashes: 7712 Wornall. Here are the results of that one:

Vehicles Stopped-357

DUI Arrests-11

Driving While Suspended/Revoked-2

Ignition Interlock Device Violation-1

A little better with just 3 percent of cars stopped having an impaired driver, but still far, far too many. And the ignition interlock device violation comes from a person who has been convicted of drunk driving and must install a device that measures their blood alcohol levels before they can start the car. This person did not install that device.
While fatality crashes elsewhere in Missouri and the nation continue to go down, Kansas City's continue to go up. Impaired driving is to blame for nearly two-thirds of those fatalities, and it must stop.
 
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Felon charged with gun possession at St. Patrick's Day parade

We assigned a lot officers to yesterday's St. Patrick's Day parade, and hopefully if you were there, you barely noticed them and had a great time. But I can assure you they were busy (to see pictures of the police at the parade, check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kcpolice). The below press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office outlines one of the situations police dealt with yesterday and demonstrates the value of having officers both in the air and on the ground at an event like this:

PROJECT CEASEFIRE: KC MAN CHARGED WITH POSSESSING LOADED FIREARM AT ST. PAT’S PARADE


KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was charged in federal court today with illegally possessing a loaded handgun at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Kansas City.

Michael C. Glover, 21, of Kansas City, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in a criminal complaint that was filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City. Glover remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

Today’s criminal complaint alleges that Glover was in possession of a Makarov 9mm semi-automatic pistol on Wednesday, March 17, 2011.

According to an affidavit filed in support of today’s criminal complaint, an observer in a Kansas City, Mo., Police Department helicopter, which was patrolling the St. Patrick’s Day parade, saw Glover place something in the corner of a wall near 38th Street and Broadway. Officers on the ground located the loaded firearm.

A few minutes later, the helicopter unit saw Glover at the same location where the firearm had been recovered, the affidavit says. When officers on the ground approached Glover, he ran from the officers, but was apprehended after a brief foot chase and placed under arrest.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Glover has a prior felony conviction for distribution/manufacture of a controlled substance.

Phillips cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Youth seat belt enforcement campaign is March 15-31

In addition to the extra DUI enforcement we're conducting around the St. Patrick's Day holiday (41 people were arrested at a checkpoint last night at 39th Street and Southwest Trafficway, and another checkpoint is scheduled this weekend), KCPD also has received grant funding to conduct extra seat belt enforcement, especially among teenagers. Here's the press release:

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department is joining with several other law enforcement agencies for an aggressive mobilization from March 15 to 31 to crack down on Missouri’s seat belt law violators in an effort to reduce traffic fatalities.

Nearly one in four Missourians still fail to regularly wear their seat belts when driving or riding in a motor vehicle. Teens are even less likely to wear their seat belts with only 66 percent regularly buckling up. Eight out of ten teens killed in traffic crashes are unbuckled.

"It’s that time of year when teen drivers are out more than ever,” Traffic Enforcement Unit Sergeant Grant Ruark said. “Warmer weather is approaching, and prom season is right around the corner, so it is important that we get as many of our young drivers and passengers to buckle up as possible. The statistics regarding teens and seat belt use are alarming. We’ve got to do more. We want them to ‘Arrive Alive.’”

For information on Missouri seat belt usage, visit www.saveMOlives.com.


Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Getting ready for St. Patrick's Day

Tomorrow promises to be a great day for one of our city’s largest outdoor celebrations: the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We’ll have dozens of additional officers in the area to ensure you and your family and friends can safely enjoy the event.

If you live in, work in or frequent the area of the parade in Midtown, beware of the road closures from about 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. tomorrow:

• Broadway Boulevard between 31st and 43rd streets
• Linwood Boulevard/33rd Street between Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
• Southbound J.C. Nichols Parkway between 43rd and 47th streets
• 43rd Street between Main Street and Wornall Road.

If you plan to be anywhere along or near the parade route, also be aware that many parade visitors will be parking in the area, and traffic congestion is likely. We ask parade-goers to please observe the posted parking ordinances. Also, please do not leave items of value in plain view in your vehicle. Thieves often target areas where many cars are parked at once, and although many officers will be nearby, leaving something like a bag or GPS or cell phone in your car could get it broken into.

Along the parade route, there will be police on foot, on motorcycle, on ATV and even overhead in the KCPD helicopter. Cameras posted on the route will be monitored by officers from a separate location to notify police on the streets of any potential problems. Plain-clothes detectives also will be in the crowd looking for liquor violations or other possible troubles.

After the parade, additional officers – including the Mounted Patrol Section – also will be assigned to the Westport area for the rest of the day and into the evening to make sure everyone celebrates safely. And remember, we’ll be conducting two DUI checkpoints between today and Sunday. As always, be sure to designate a sober driver or arrange for other transportation if you plan to drink.

We wish everyone a fun and safe St. Patrick’s Day.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

New task force aims to reduce crashes at 152 Highway intersections

PRESS RELEASE:

Liberty resident Richard Brown was driving his car in the area of 152 Highway and North Flintlock Road in Kansas City, North, on Jan. 22, 2011, when his car was involved in an accident.

Brown went through something that’s played out more than 300 times in the past year and is the subject of a new task force formed by the Kansas City Police Department’s Shoal Creek Patrol Division: wrecks on 152 Highway. The Task Force will have its first meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at the Shoal Creek Patrol Station, 6801 NE Pleasant Valley Road, Kansas City, Mo.

The area of 152 Highway between Shoal Creek Parkway and Interstate 35 is consistently in the top 5 crash locations in the city. 152 and North Flintlock ranked as the No. 1 crash spot in 2010, and 152 and North Church Road came in at No. 3.

“We need to work on solutions to this problem,” said Major Rich Lockhart, commander of the Shoal Creek Patrol Division. “Working with key stakeholders will help us identify the root causes of the high number of accidents.”

Lockhart has invited the Missouri Department of Transportation, Kansas City’s Traffic Division, members of the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce, The Liberty Police Department, community members, and Kansas City police officers to meet to work on solutions. The group expects to have a report outlining possible solutions done by early summer.


Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Police, MoDOT unveil new tool to combat drunk driving



PRESS RELEASE:

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will unveil a new tool Tuesday that will help with the effort to get drunk drivers off the road.

Police presented the new Mobile DUI Enforcement Center (MDEC) at a news conference at March 15 behind KCPD’s Metro Patrol Division Station. The MDEC was funded by a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The vehicle is being unveiled in advance of the statewide crackdown on drunk driving during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. KCPD plans two DUI checkpoints between March 16 and 20.

Kansas City, Mo., significantly leads the state in alcohol-involved crashes, alcohol-involved fatal crashes and alcohol-involved serious injury crashes. About 63 percent of Kansas City’s traffic deaths in 2010 were attributed to someone driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. KCPD worked to get these dangerous drivers off the road by making 1,661 DUI arrests in 2010.

The new, grant-funded $395,000 Mobile DUI Enforcement Center will allow Kansas City Police to combat drunk drivers at sobriety checkpoints and other impaired driving enforcement operations. Officers will be able to process up to five impaired drivers at once and administer breath alcohol tests. The MDEC also has built-in computers that will be connected to the department’s network.

The MDEC replaces a 24-year-old recreational vehicle KCPD had been using as a command post at sobriety checkpoints.

“The Mobile DUI Enforcement Center will replace the Mobile Operations Sobriety Testing vehicle currently used,” said Sergeant Ron Podraza, supervisor of KCPD’s DUI Section. “The outdated MOST is an RV fabricated to serve as a breath testing vehicle. The MDEC was designed to serve as a DUI enforcement center during sobriety checkpoint operations. Knowing that funding for this type of vehicle only comes along once in a generation, the MDEC was built with longevity in mind. The MDEC will serve our citizens for many years to come, combating the scourge of impaired drivers."

Kansas City Police also plan to take the MDEC to community events for the public to tour. It will be used during the St. Patrick's Day enforcement later this week.







Monday, March 14, 2011

Victim of homicide in 3300 block of Olive identified


At 8:58 p.m. Saturday, March 12, police were dispatched to the 3300 block of Olive on a shooting. When they arrived, they found 31-year-old James L. Ivy of Kansas City, Mo., dead behind a house with an apparent gunshot wound. No suspects are in custody, and police ask anyone with information to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

Community prosecutors focus on East Patrol Division

We're seeing some success with a program the Municipal Prosecutor's Office started about five months ago: neighborhood prosecutors. Read this story from our Informant newsletter to learn about the difference they're making in the East Patrol Division:

A whole sector of East Patrol Division officers were persuaded to show up to Municipal Court in February to get a persistent offender behind bars.

“We wanted to make an impact on the judge,” said Monica Smith, one of two community prosecutors assigned to East Patrol as part of a grant-funded pilot project with the Municipal Prosecutor’s office. “We wanted to show the defendant is affecting the quality of life of people who live and work in that neighborhood.”

“Who better to come to court than the people who see him everyday – the officers?” said Lindsay Arbuthnot, the other community prosecutor.

The community prosecutor program has been operating since October 2010. Five months in, Captain Bob Zimmerman said it’s getting results.

“They’ve really helped in a situation that’s been mostly frustrating for a lot of officers,” he said. “…There was never an outlet before if you had a problem house or a person you’re constantly taking to jail. The bad guy gets probation in one courtroom and then goes on to another.”

But now officers are turning information on these habitual offenders over to Arbuthnot and Smith.

“With the 1,000 to 2,000 cases that hit Municipal Court every day, prosecutors working at that pace don’t have the time to concentrate on the cases they need to,” Assistant City Attorney Beth Murano said. “The idea of community prosecutors is to be able to let the police and community bring the knowledge they have so the prosecutor can have a strategy for prosecution and not just go through the motions.”

Smith and Arbuthnot are currently monitoring the cases of 38 different people, all persistent offenders. Twenty of them are in the high-crime target areas of 27th and Prospect and Independence and Benton. Officers picked 10 of their most repeat offenders at each location and told Smith and Arbuthnot about them. Smith and Arbuthnot move to have judges ban the offenders from re-entering the target areas as a condition of their probation. If they’re spotted there again, they can get more than 180 days in jail.

“We monitor their cases, and we’re there when they go to court,” Smith said.

A prostitute who repeatedly was arrested at Independence Avenue and Benton presented a continual problem for officers, who even tried to get her into several social services. She rejected their efforts and kept breaking the law, so the community prosecutors got her a two-year jail sentence, nearly unheard of in Municipal Court, Captain Zimmerman said.

In addition to the police, Smith and Arbuthnot are collaborating with neighborhood associations and residents. They work out of the Vineyard Neighborhood Association’s offices and are involved in a number of area task forces. They attend neighborhood meetings and pass on crime information they hear to police.

They’ve also made it a point to get to know EPD officers by regularly attending roll calls, sectors-as-teams meetings and going on ride-alongs. The officers keep them up to date on their problem individuals, and the community prosecutors keep the officers apprised on how those individuals’ cases are making their way through the court system.

Murano said she would like to expand the community prosecutor program into the Central Patrol Division and beyond and is looking for ways to fund it.


Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Tip a Cop on Saturday and help Special Olympics Missouri

PRESS RELEASE:

Kansas City area residents can enjoy a delicious breakfast delivered by a police officer and support Special Olympics Missouri at the same time with Saturday’s Tip-A-Cop event at metro Corner Café restaurants.

More than 40 police officers will be at three Corner Café restaurants in Riverside, Kansas City North and Independence from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 12. Instead of their usual job of fighting crime, the off-duty, uniformed officers will be taking orders, serving food, cleaning tables and assisting the regular wait staff at each location.

At the end of each customer’s meal, officers will encourage diners to tip their “real” waiter or waitress first and then ask them if they’d like to make a donation to Special Olympics, the charity of choice for law enforcement nationwide.

Last year’s Tip-A-Cop raised about $12,000 for Special Olympics Missouri. Police officers from the Riverside, Independence and Liberty police departments also are participating in Tip-A-Cop.

The Tip-A-Cop Corner Café locations are:
  • Riverside, Mo.: 4541 NW Gateway Ave.
  • Kansas City: 8301 N. Flintlock Rd.
  • Independence, Mo.: 4215 S. Little Blue Parkway

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Successful Operation LASER

KCPD’s Career Criminal Squad and HIDTA (High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Section recently played big roles in the U.S. Marshals Service’s Operation LASER, which enforced sex offender registration in eastern Jackson County. LASER stands for Local Agencies Supervise and Enforce Registrations, and we did just that on March 4 and are continuing to follow up on these cases.

With everyone from the FBI to the Lake Tapawingo Police Departments, officers from nine agencies worked out of the Lee’s Summit Police Department’s headquarters March 4 to check on 160 registered sex offenders in nine eastern Jackson County cities. Police found that 50 of them were out of compliance with state and federal sex offender registration laws or were violating their probation (such as having a computer when they were ordered not to). Nineteen were arrested that day, and officers are out looking for another 31. Two had child pornography on their computers, and an additional two computers are being examined.

Investigators with the U.S. Marshals are assigned to KCPD’s Career Criminal Squad and led this initiative. The Marshals are tasked with enforcing the Adam Walsh Act, a federal law passed in 2006 that requires sex offenders from one state who move to another to register as a sex offender in their new state of residence. Police found two possible violations of this law during their sweep.

Behind the scenes, KCPD’s HIDTA Section’s investigators and analysts prepared information on all 160 of the offenders, including their pictures, last known addresses, criminal histories and any other possible investigations they might be involved in.

All of this is part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Marshals, KCPD and other area law enforcement agencies to ensure convicted sex offenders are in compliance with the law and don’t present a danger to society. Click to see the Missouri Sex Offender Registry.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Getting ready for the Big 12 Tourney

Kansas City is quite the basketball town this week, and police are ready for all the fans who are expected to come here for the NCAA Big 12 women’s and men’s basketball tournaments.

Street closures began Monday around the Sprint Center and Power and Light District and will last through Saturday, March 12, so plan alternate routes if you work or live near the action. Here are the closures:

• Grand from 13th to 15th Street
• 14th Street from Main to Grand
• Walnut from 13th to 15th Street

We’ll have plenty of officers around to protect all who plan to attend the events, especially when the men’s tournament kicks off at the Sprint Center on Wednesday. Officers and horses with the Mounted Patrol will be in the Sprint Center area. Other officers from the Downtown Footbeat, Downtown Bike Patrol and Tactical Response Team 1 will be patrolling Downtown, as well. We’ll also have police monitoring parking lots not only in the immediate Sprint Center/Power and Light area but also in outer areas to prevent thefts from cars. But do yourself a favor and don’t leave anything of value in plain view in your vehicle.

The Power and Light District also has multiple surveillance cameras, the feeds of which will be monitored live at Police Headquarters during the tournament. Officers watching the cameras will alert officers on the ground to any potential problems. Plain-clothes Vice Unit detectives also will be on the look-out for illegal ticket scalping and under-age drinking.

Ideally, very little of all this will be necessary. Die-hard college basketball fans should have a great time enjoying the games and Kansas City, but police will be close by if we’re needed.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Victim of weekend homicide identified


About 7:30 a.m. Saturday, March 5, police were called to 24th and Indiana to meet an ambulance. Officers found 24-year-old Maurice C. Robinson of Kansas City, Mo., dead in the street. A passer-by had seen the body and called 911. There were obvious signs of trauma, but police are not releasing his cause of death. There are no suspects in custody, and anyone with information in the case is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

This is Kansas City's 11th homicide in 2011, compared to 16 at this date last year and 21 at this date in 2009.

Friday, March 4, 2011

With trucks and buses, stay out of "No-Zones"


Unless you drive a big rig, bus or delivery truck, you probably haven't heard much about our Department's Commercial Vehicle Inspection Section. The officers in this section are federally certified experts in commercial vehicle and heavy truck inspection. They undergo extensive training and are charged with the responsibility of enforcing state and federal motor carrier laws within the city. They meet extensively with trucking and other commercial vehicle companies to keep them apprised of the laws and will take trucks off the road if they're not complying with these laws.

But these officers also are interested in keeping the general driving public safe around commercial vehicles, as well. They have a booth at the Greater Kansas City International Auto Show this weekend (they'll be at the south end of Bartle Hall) that talks about the dangers of "The No Zone." No-Zones are areas around trucks and buses where crashes are most likely to occur, and they're illustrated above. We and the U.S. Department of Transportation advise you not to "hang out in the No-Zone." If you get into a wreck with a large truck or bus, you're at a big disadvantage. 78% of fatalities in these crashes are those in passenger vehicles. Here are some No-Zone tips, and more information is in this brochure:

* Side No-Zones: Don't hang out on either side of trucks or buses. They have big blind spots on both sides, and if you can't see the driver's face, the driver can't see you.

* Rear No-Zones: Don't tailgate. Unlike in your vehicle, drivers of trucks and buses can't see directly behind them. If they brake suddenly, you'll have nowhere to go.

* Front No-Zones: Pass safely, and don't cut in too soon after stopping. Truck and bus drivers need nearly twice the time and room to stop as cars. Look for the whole front of the truck in your rear-view mirror before pulling in front.

* Backing up No-Zone: Never cross behind a truck that's backing up. Hundreds of motorists and pedestrians are injured or killed every year this way. Remember, ther truck doesn't have a rear-view mirror.

* Wide right-turns: Bus and truck drivers sometimes need to swing left to safely make a right turn. Don't try to squeeze in on the right side between them and the curb.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

New Homicide Unit web page features lots of information

In an ongoing effort to solve more homicide cases and get more information from the community, we launched a new Homicide Unit page on our web site yesterday. It features links to information on every unsolved homicide in 2010 - including the victim's picture and a picture of where the crime took place, to spark memories and generate tips. It also includes cold case homicides and will have any unsolved homicides in 2011 that arise.

The page has every homicide detective's e-mail address and phone number listed to help anyone with information contact them more easily. Finally, it has a link to a number of victim assistance resources offered by our department and outside agencies and organizations.

Please check it out, and if you have any information on any of these unsolved cases, call the detectives listed or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Victim of homicide on Gladstone Boulevard identified

At about 11 p.m. Monday, Feb. 28, a resident of the 500 block of Gladstone Boulevard heard gunshots at a neighbor's house and saw an unknown person wearing dark clothing running from the house. Officers found 48-year-old Yuri Ives dead inside his home. There are no suspects in custody, and anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Thanks for your tips on stolen Nikes


We want to give a big thanks to the multiple people who called in tips about the stolen Nike shoes that are being sold on the streets of Kansas City. They led us to execute a search warrant last night in the 4500 block of Park. Police recovered 63 pairs of the Nike shoes stolen from Junction City, Kan., on Feb. 24. They also recovered a gun and ammunition. The investigation is ongoing, and police expect to recover more of the stolen shoes. A picture of one of the shoes they recovered last night is above.

Detectives know that many of these shoes are still out there and being sold illegally. (At retail, they sell for $95 a pair.) Keep in mind that anyone who is caught with them could be prosecuted for receiving stolen property. So please call the TIPS Hotline (816-474-TIPS) if you run across anyone trying to sell these (all the pairs stolen from Junction City look like those above), and thanks again to those who already have done so.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.