While so much of our other crime is trending downward,
shootings and homicides remain a persistent issue in our city. Although police are
by no means solely responsible for the increase or decrease in these crimes, we
are obligated to do everything in our power to address them and bring offenders
to justice.
We also know we can’t work in a vacuum. It takes
partnerships across the city and an evaluation of best practices nationwide to
make the systemic changes needed to impact our stubborn violent crime rate. In
2019, Kansas City had 148 homicides and 491 non-fatal shootings.
A focus on prolific
violent offenders
One of the places where you can see that change is happening
is with the Kansas City No Violence Alliance, or KC NoVA. KC NoVA has been and continues to be about
focused deterrence, but after extensive evaluation, KC NoVA switched its
enforcement strategy last year from targeting group-related violence to
targeting individuals who are frequently involved in violent, gun-related
crimes. This approach has seen great success in cities like Tampa, which has
had a dramatic reduction in violent crime. Although the number of these violent
offenders is low, they are responsible for the vast amount of our violent
crime. Research from Tampa identified that 6% of their violent offenders were
responsible for 60% of violent crime.
As a reminder, KC NoVA is a partnership between KCPD, the
U.S. Attorney’s Office, The Jackson County Prosecutor, FBI, ATF, the Mayor’s
Office and Missouri Probation and Parole. All of those partners remain at the
table with us, and they are integral in reducing the gun-related crimes that
plague Kansas City. We work together now more than ever.
But homicides and non-fatal shootings continue to be an
issue in Kansas City, so we needed to adapt. The U.S. Department of Justice’s
Public Safety Partnership spent 18 months with us evaluating NoVA and advising
us on how we could move forward. The result is this new enforcement strategy
that targets the trigger-pullers.
Reviewing non-fatal
shootings
The Public Safety Partnership also introduced us to a best
practice from police in our peer city of Milwaukee. As of January 8, we are now
conducting weekly shooting review meetings. These cover all homicides and
non-fatal shootings that took place in the past week and follow up on case
progress from previous weeks. Again, this is driven by partnerships with state
and federal prosecutors and Missouri Probation and Parole. All of the partners
attend the meetings with our investigative and patrol elements to ensure each
case is investigated to the best of its ability.
This new meeting of criminal justice partners emphasizes
accountability: each of the partners – including KCPD – is holding each other
responsible for effectively carrying out their role in the criminal justice
process. This is a great improvement in communication and accountability
through the whole system.
Adding investigative
resources
With the dawn of the New Year, we have doubled the number of
detectives assigned to work non-fatal shooting cases. All too often, many of
the victims and suspects in these incidents later become victims or suspects in
homicides. With 491 non-fatal shootings last year (a 9% increase from 2018), we
have doubled the number of detectives in our Assault Squads from 12 to 24. They
are charged with investigating cases in which someone is assaulted with a
weapon but survives.
We also have added eight homicide detectives, bringing the
total number to 32.
These shifts have led to us moving resources from other
places, like Mounted Patrol. That decision wasn’t popular, but it is needed to
focus resources on stopping the perpetrators of gun violence in our city.
Ultimately, police can’t be there every time someone decides
to resolve an argument with a gun. If you know someone who is planning
violence, please let us know. We are making changes, however, to identify those
most involved with gun violence, work their case to the fullest extent and
ensure accountability with the help of our partners in the criminal justice
system and the community.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
