Violent crime does not occur in a vacuum, so we are using intelligence information to deploy resources in an effort to address the myriad issues related to violent crime. This week, we began using officers in some of our more flexible units – Traffic Division, Special Operations Division and Violent Crimes Enforcement Division (the enforcement arm of the Kansas City No Violence Alliance) – to proactively patrol areas that we have identified as experiencing high levels of violent crime and other types of incidents.
We’re recognizing that certain factors we may previously have thought were unrelated do play together. In areas where you find a lot of fatality traffic accidents and drug overdoses, you also find violent crime. We’re looking at numerous other factors, as well, including drive-by shootings, non-fatal shootings, homicides and more. Our Law Enforcement Resource Center is using that information to identify up to four relatively small geographic zones where additional officers are proactively patrolling and creating an increased, visible police presence.
These zones are fluid and could change as often as every 72 to 96 hours. Members across our department now attend biweekly IRIS (Incident Review/Information Sharing) meetings to share intelligence and information about violent crime. As the geography of where drive-by shootings, traffic fatalities and other factors shift, so too will the zones where we will deploy additional resources. We’ll decide at our IRIS meetings where these zones should be located. While we will not publicize the exact location of these zones, residents in these areas should notice the increased police presence.
I want to be clear this is NOT a zero-tolerance initiative. It is intelligence-led policing. We are putting extra resources in these violence-stricken neighborhoods to help the residents feel safer where they live. I want these officers to build relationships with the residents and deter violent crime, not stop and cite law-abiding citizens for minor infractions. We hope the residents will partner with us to warn us of festering disagreements that could escalate into violence, possible instances of retaliation or provide information that may help solve violent crimes.
This is one of several measures we are putting in place to impact the recent escalation of violent crime Kansas City is experiencing. It complements our other proactive crime prevention initiatives. The redeployment of officers started this week and will continue indefinitely. We felt this was important to do to make the people living in these areas feel safe, so we’re not putting a timetable on it.
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