A look back at the good things in 2019

As police officers, we’re in the business of being there when bad things happen. Therefore, we often become the topic of bad things in discussions. It’s hard for people who are always responding to horrific acts – like our city’s despicable homicide rate – to come up in the same conversation as really great things that happen in our community. As we reflect on 2019, however, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the good things in which our department has gotten to be involved.

Social workers
Our social workers continue to make a tremendous impact on the lives of people throughout Kansas City. This was the first full year we’ve had one at all six patrol divisions. Their job is to help in situations that come to the attention of law enforcement but cannot be resolved by police. They’ve helped a family whose home burned down. They’ve helped victims of domestic violence start new lives. And ultimately, they’ve gotten residents the resources they need to be successful and reduced the need for law enforcement involvement. As of Dec. 3, KCPD social workers have assisted 1,815 people and attended 488 community outreach events in 2019.

Community Interaction Officers
Our 12 Community Interaction Officers (CIOs) – two at each patrol division station – have worked tirelessly to build relationships with residents and make neighborhoods safer. They’ve provided block-watch training for countless neighborhoods to empower residents in keeping their communities safe. The CIOs work with business owners to implement security measures and address concerns. They’ve worked hand-in-hand with social workers to address issues of repeated calls for service to particular addresses and in finding help for families in need.

They have organized countless free community events from family movie nights to job fairs for ex-offenders to health and safety fairs to Christmas parties for deserving youth. Our Kansas City United Against Crime events coordinated by CIOs in the first weekend of October brought communities together to play, learn and get to know one another. Our Halloween events – undertaken with business, church and non-profit partners – gave thousands of children a safe place to go on Halloween. All of these things also built lasting relationships between children, their families and KCPD.

Youth programs
One of the biggest ways we can impact the future safety of our city is through building trust and understanding with youth. I’ve previously written about Teens in Transition, the Police Athletic League and many other things we do to facilitate those relationships. We expanded the Police Athletic League last year to include PAL Nights - a structured and fun environment for urban-core youth on weekend nights in the spring and summer. This offers a safe place for kids to socialize and enjoy themselves while getting to know officers in a relaxed setting. 

I wanted to highlight a few of our other youth initiatives here:

Youth Police Initiative – Our Youth Police Initiative began in 2018, and an academic review of the program in 2019 shows what an impact it’s making. The program’s goal is to bring at-risk youth together with police officers to share personal stories, meals and to let their guards down long enough to have difficult and honest discussions that will create relationships and understanding for both the youth and officers. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice surveyed the 45 participants in our Youth Police Initiative at the beginning and the end of their week in the program. Over the course of that week, the teens who said, “I know at least one police officer who I can trust” went up by 181%. You can read more about it in our February 2019 Informant newsletter.

Youth Police Academy – This week-long version of the Citizens Police Academy for middle schoolers had more than 150 participants from throughout the City. They did everything from dust for fingerprints to learn conflict resolution.

Catching Fury – This camp was designed by women on our department and at neighboring police and fire departments to encourage young women ages 13 to 17 to pursue careers in public safety in partnership with the Girl Scouts of America. More is on p. 3 of our June Informant newsletter.

Explorers – We’ve recently restarted our Police Explorer Program in conjunction with the Boy Scouts of America. This program is for youth ages 14-20 to introduce them to all aspects of our department so that they might consider careers here. Explorers also volunteer with KCPD and will be issued uniforms and radios.

School Resource Officers – We have School Resource Officers (SROs) serving at several high schools in the Kansas City Public School District. They are there in an official capacity to help with security and enforce any laws as needed, but what they really do is serve as mentors. For many of the kids in those schools, the SROs are one of the few people in their lives who offer stability. Many students confide in the SROs, and the SROs have been known to take teens having a hard time under their wings. I would love to be able to expand our SRO program. 

DARE - We have DARE officers in nearly every elementary school in this city - parochial, public and charter - north and south of the River. We believe getting officers in contact with children at a young age teaches them that police are trustworthy and there to help. I regularly hear rave reviews from teachers about the impact our DARE officers have on children in the schools they serve.

Badges for Basics
Our Badges for Basics program is solving crime and building trust with toilet paper and shampoo. This collaboration with the non-profit, Giving the Basics, provides hygiene products to members of our community who have difficulty affording them. Our officers go to high-crime and low-income areas to hand out these products so residents can have dignity. The Badges for Basics partnership earned the Excellence in Collaboration honor from NonProfit Connect’s Philanthropy Awards in May and has been featured in multiple national publications. From March 21 through today, Badges for Basics has given out nearly 30,000 hygiene products.

Holiday help
Just two weeks ago, we partnered with Hy-Vee and Harvesters to provide 500 free Christmas dinners to needy families. On Dec. 23, we worked with Hy-Vee again to deliver catered meals to four deserving families identified by our social workers. Many Christmas gifts were delivered that day, as well. I couldn’t possibly count how much money our members spend out of their own pockets to make the holidays brighter for so many families in our community. It’s not just during the holidays, either. I’d be willing to bet every officer on this department has bought a Happy Meal for a child in a tough situation.

Assisting sexual assault victims
One of our crime scene technicians went viral with her idea to provide new sheets and bedding to victims of sexual assault. CSI usually has to take these items to process for physical evidence, and it often is the only bedding the victim has. When our CSI tech asked for donations of new sheets to provide to victims, the request went viral on our Facebook page in 2018. It recirculated again this year, and we received so many packages of new sheets and bedding in 2019 (from Kansas City and around the world) that we ran out of room to store them and distributed them to neighboring agencies.


Many of the things outlined here are not short-term fixes to problems like violent crime or mistrust of law enforcement. They are means to meeting long-term goals of a safer city for everyone and a trusting relationship between KCPD and the community. We are in it for the long haul. Fixing the problems of violence and mistrust takes long, hard work, and we are committed to that.

We may not be able to convince every last person that we are here for good, but for the 32 years I’ve been here, this police department has been working tirelessly to build as much trust as we possibly can. I think that sets us apart from other cities where a trusting relationship with the community isn’t such a priority for law enforcement. That trust is a very big deal to me and the members of the KCPD, and we will work toward it with every Trunk-or-Treat, social worker visit and 911 response we can.

You may have noticed that many of the good things we got to be a part of in 2019 were the result of partnerships with individuals, non-profits, faith communities and businesses. These are people who care deeply about their city and want good things for it. They help pay for the projector at movie nights, holiday meals at Christmas and Halloween candy for children. They transport beds for our social workers to give to families who don’t have one. They give us hygiene products to help those who need them for dignity. They are the unsung heroes of Kansas City.

What I’ve outlined here are just a very few of the good things we got to be part of in 2019. Yes, we will always be there when the bad things happen, but we look forward to being part of more and more good, as well.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org 

Proactive work with at-risk teens yields positive results

Most of what the public sees our officers doing is reactive: showing up after something bad already has happened. There is a lot of proactive work going on behind the scenes, however, and one of those initiatives starts today. Today is the first day of this summer’s Teens in Transition program, a partnership that aims to put at-risk youth on track for a positive future.

Teens in Transition is a partnership between the Kansas City Missouri Police Department, Kansas City No Violence Alliance and local artists. It started in the summer of 2014. KCPD officers who work as School Resource Officers (SROs) in Kansas City Public Schools and school staff in the Hickman Mills School District help select students ages 14 to 17 who they think could benefit from the program. Many of these students have had negative contact with police, but not all of them. They are teens who are on the fence about which direction their life is going to go.

We meet with them and their families to outline the expectations of the program. They fill out an application. The first three days are an evaluation period to determine whether the teens are a good fit. Police, program directors and teens will work together this week to create a student agreement of behavior. Teens are urged to be careful about whom they should associate with over the summer and are told negative contact with police could result in being asked to leave the program.

So what happens at Teens in Transition? The teens meet three days weekly from now until Aug. 9. During that time, they hear from a variety of guest speakers – the Jackson County Prosecutor, the Mayor, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Kansas City Division, me and many others. They learn about conflict resolution and skills for employment. They get a free meal and a snack. And they work collaboratively on an art project. They get paid above minimum wage for their work, too. And on their paydays, they learn about financial literacy. The Mayor’s Office funds the program.

In years past, the teens’ artwork has been auctioned off. One piece hangs in the lobby of our East Patrol Division. Last year, they created murals to be featured in scenery in the Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production of “West Side Story.” Those murals will travel to other productions of the musical in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and New York City.

Throughout the program, the teens are shepherded by KCPD School Resource Officers. The SROs are there with the teens every day, providing guidance and mentorship and breaking down misconceptions the teens might have had about law enforcement. It’s interesting to see the change throughout the program. The teens are usually very standoffish in the beginning, but at the end, they and the SROs seem like old friends.

Teens in Transition will take place in two locations this year: at Arts Tech downtown and at Hope Hangout across from Ruskin High School. Forty students are slated to start at Arts Tech, and 25 at Hope Hangout.

In the past four years of the program, 210 teens started it, and 73% completed it. Of those who completed the program, two-thirds have since had no negative contact with police. We view that as a huge win and an indication that proactive programs like this work. KC NoVA social workers also stay in touch with the teens after the program, and the SROs see them and keep up with them when they go back to school.

You may just see us responding to 911 calls, but rest assured that there is a lot of proactive work going on behind the scenes. Through police and teens building relationships, a new generation is trusting and more apt to work with police. This makes Kansas City’s future safer and brighter for everyone.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org. 

With your help, we've enhanced our response to threats against schools

Since my previous blog on mass shooting threats, I wanted to update you on what’s been happening regarding this in Kansas City. After the horrific shootings at the high school in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, school threats came pouring in across the metro. As far as we can tell, there have been 21 verifiable incidents involving threats of mass violence since Feb. 14 in Kansas City, Mo. Twenty of the 21 were directed at schools. We immediately investigated and followed up on every one of them and have implemented new practices to ensure these types of threats don’t slip through the cracks. We would not have been able to do any of it without the community’s vigilance and reporting.

We started a new notification system to ensure the right people on the department can start tracking down suspects as quickly as possible. And because they were so numerous, we even created a new report category in our records management system in April for these types of terroristic threats to increase our ability to track case progress and accurately reflect the number of incidents we’ve encountered.

Let me share an example of how we handled one of these incidents. Someone at one of our high schools notified police of a possible threat of violence they’d learned about the previous day. The person had heard students were going to bring a gun after school to confront other students on April 12. Police quickly converged on the school just before dismissal. One of the officers spotted the two juveniles who purportedly made the threat walking purposefully toward the front of the school with what appeared to be firearms. Four officers moved in and stopped the two teenagers. They recovered a loaded gun from each of them and took them into custody, stopping who knows what kinds of violence.

Most of the people who have made these threats are juveniles. The majority of their families that we’ve encountered have been very supportive and helpful in KCPD’s efforts to intervene and prevent school violence. Although many of these juveniles have been taken into custody and charged with making terroristic threats, KCPD is doing more than just enforcement-based response. Our social workers and Crisis Intervention Team officers are working with them and their families to ensure they’re receiving the help they need. Some have struggled with mental illness, and we’ve worked to connect them to treatment.

As I said in my post after the Parkland shooting, the protection of children is one of our top priorities. But we must be aware of threats of violence everywhere, from a country music concert to a Waffle House. Our prevention, notification, investigation and enforcement activities remain the same for all potential threats of mass violence. But we need your help. If you hear or see any threats of violence against one person or a whole building full of people, please call 911 immediately. (Please do not notify us via social media. That’s not monitored 24/7, nor can we dispatch from there.) We’re ready to respond. From our perspective, this successful police-community partnership already has prevented violence at schools in Kansas City.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org. 

With your help, we can work to prevent mass shootings

On Valentine’s Day, the terror we all dread returned to an unsuspecting school. In a matter of minutes lives were lost, others were shattered, and the hearts of people throughout the nation broke for people in both categories. Everyone hopes and prays that such a tragedy will never happen, especially not to children. KCPD, just like any other law enforcement agency in this country, would like to be able to guarantee the safety of all school children. Unfortunately, that’s a guarantee we can’t make.

Just this past week, Kansas City Missouri Police have investigated two school shooting threats. Both times, we tracked down the originators of the threats and interviewed them. Because of the unfortunate choices they made, the juveniles who made these threats may face consequences. 

Like this past week, there have been many times that KCPD has received information about a possible mass-shooting threat. This usually comes in the form of a call to our department or a call for service to a location where someone is concerned about the mental state of another person. Many times, officers check into the concern and find it doesn’t pose a danger. No one has made a threat or taken any actions or made any plans to harm to others. But if there is more information, such as photos, social media posts, text messages or something else that adds to the concern, our patrol officers then contact detectives to conduct more research and investigation in an attempt to determine the level of threat. Once law enforcement personnel feel - and yes, sometimes it comes down to good police instinct - that there is a possible danger, many different police elements may get involved. Our Law Enforcement Resource Center, Crisis Intervention Team officers, and detectives from different units all will work together to investigate. This will include interviewing friends and family of the concerned person as well as making contact with that individual to determine their state of mind and capabilities. 

Even though it is impossible to prove a mass shooting didn’t happen, I do know that KCPD has come across individuals who were in a bad state and were capable of carrying out an attack. Many thanks go out to the family members, friends and even co-workers who have stepped up and reported the concerns they have had. Just one call or comment to an officer or detective can make all the difference. It can stop mass shootings and save lives. Without that partnership, KCPD will not be effective - not just in preventing mass-casualty events but in pretty much every other facet of public safety.

The day before the Parkland shooting, the FBI issued a report about the marked increase of mass shooting incidents in the United States in the last five years. Preliminarily, the totals for 2017 are higher than each of the previous five years. Last year, the report states, there were 29 active shooter incidents in 15 states, which was an increase from 20 incidents in each of the previous years since 2014.

No one wants to think about a mass shooting occur here, in Kansas City. As I have previously mentioned, KCPD members not only must think about such an occurrence; we have to train for it. Every officer on our department is well trained and conducts practical exercises for such a horrible event. KCPD also has conducted joint training exercises with the fire department to be in the best position to save lives if a mass shooting incident were to occur.

After the Parkland shooting, our Tactical Response Team officers reached out to every school district in Kansas City, Mo., to see if any schools and their staffs wanted to undergo the free active shooter training our department offers. (Many already have done so in prior years.) If you work for a charter or parochial school that is not part of a district, contact our Tactical Enforcement Division Office at 816-413-3597 if you would like such training at your school. The training is available for other organizations, as well. Call to inquire.

With the right partnerships, anything is possible, including the prevention of a mass shooting. I encourage anyone who is legitimately concerned about an individual to not set your feelings aside without contacting KCPD or another law enforcement agency. Together we can keep each other and our children safe.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org. 

The earnings tax's impact at KCPD

Kansas City’s 1 percent earnings tax presently is up for debate in the Missouri Legislature and up for Kansas City voters to renew in April. The proceeds from this tax make up almost 40 percent of the City's general fund, which primarily supports public safety, including the police department budget. Without it, police would be forced to make significant cuts.

If the tax goes away, the City estimates that 810 sworn officer positions would need to be eliminated. That’s more than 80 percent of the officers we currently have on patrol. In total, we currently have about 1,350 sworn officers, which include investigative, training and specialty elements.

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 incidents. Response times would increase, and elements like those listed below that were instituted through the earnings tax could be cut. A Northland patrol division station also could be eliminated.

The elements listed below have done a tremendous amount of good in our city. They have changed the lives of young people, found and stopped people who committed violent crimes, served the growing northern part of our city, significantly reduced illegal narcotics and the violence that goes with them, protected children from harm and brought justice for victims and their loved ones. If the earnings tax was eliminated, however, KCPD would have to devote nearly all of its resources to responding to 911 calls for service. We could not afford to staff these and other specialized units.

Here are the services and elements KCPD has added using earnings tax funds in the last 40-plus years:

• D.A.R.E./G.R.E.A.T. Unit - The five officers in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education and Gang Resistance Education And Training unit reach approximately 3,000 Kansas City youth in 44 schools every year. Both programs are taught to children in grades 4 through 8, depending on the availability of the school’s classroom time. (One of the five officers is funded through the Jackson County COMBAT Tax.)

• Police Athletic League – Their mission is to offer youth the opportunity to interact with police officers in a positive setting while participating in cultural, mentoring and sports programs with the main emphasis being placed on academics. The PAL program serves as a constructive alternative to anti-social behavior and boredom during their development years into adulthood. I’ve discussed some of the amazing work PAL does on this blog, and it’s become a national model. PAL is supported by donations, but the officers are paid through earnings tax funds.

• Community Interaction Officers – These officers are the single point of contact for community members or groups to access a variety of not only police services, but community contacts and resources, as well. Each area of the city has an assigned representative (one at each of the six patrol divisions). These officers have contacts and relationships with community, cultural, church and professional organizations and strive to serve as a conduit to facilitate each working together for the benefit of the community they represent.

• School Resource Officers – Two officers each are assigned to three high schools in the Kansas City Missouri School District: Northeast, Central Academy of Excellence and Southwest. The SRO program places officers in schools in an effort to create and maintain a safe learning environment and also create a positive image through interaction with students, parents, staff and administrators. The officers take a proactive approach with the students to help identify youth at risk, try to intervene with appropriate action plans, build healthy and trusting relationships with the KCMO Police Department and encourage a forward-looking approach to deal with the pressures today's young people face.

• Community Action Network – Six of these officers are assigned at three centers: Westside, Blue Hills and 49/63. They are the definition of “community policing.” They monitor issues within their assigned neighborhoods and work with a wide variety of departmental and City groups to combat the issues. They also do covert operations to follow known criminals in the KC Metro area in an effort to catch them in the act of committing crimes. Our CAN officers have been featured in the New York Times and in national documentaries for their work.

• Shoal Creek Patrol Division – Serves a 75-square-mile area (for perspective, the whole city of St. Louis is 66 square miles) of northeast Kansas City that is home to about 90,000 residents. Officers respond to 911 calls, engage in proactive policing to prevent crime and work with community members and businesses. A dedicated Property Crimes Section investigates property crimes that take place in the division.

• Helicopter Unit – Officers in the unit fly approximately 1,700 hours per year. They assist in searches for missing and/or endangered adults and children, provide assistance to officers on the ground in locating individuals attempting to elude arrest, and provide information from overhead regarding police pursuits (traffic information to help officers safely pursue and apprehend individuals). They also gather information and intelligence to provide safety during large public gatherings like the World Series Victory Parade and rally, St. Patrick’s Day parade, large disturbances, etc. They provide coverage 15.5 hours each day, and are subject to call out. Kansas City Police also are the only law enforcement agency with a helicopter in the metro area, so KCPD Helicopter officers regularly assist other agencies on both sides of the state line. The helicopters were paid for through a combination of public safety sales tax and grant funds, but the salary of the officers who fly them comes from the Earnings Tax.

• Canine Unit – The Canine Unit does more than just apprehend suspects. They search for articles of contraband or evidence, locate lost individuals and bodies of the deceased, detect narcotics and search for any possible explosives at large-scale events. Ten officers, two sergeants and their 12 canine partners work 20 hours a day, and can be called out at any time.

• Drug Enforcement Unit – All elements in the unit work in conjunction with federal partners to investigate and prosecute violent offenders. The unit has received numerous accolades from the U.S. Department of Justice for their work. This unit is readily available for 24/7 surveillance when requested. DEU is part of the Narcotics and Vice Division and is composed of the following squads:

- Interdiction – Members stop and investigate large quantities of drugs coming in and out of the city on mass transit, through shipping companies and more. In 2015, Interdiction members seized $46.3 million worth of narcotics and more than $1 million in cash in connection with illicit drugs.

- Career Criminal – Members go after repeat violent criminals involved in crimes like murder, robbery, kidnapping, shootings, and drug and gun trafficking. In the last couple years, members of this squad worked on such high-profile cases as the quintuple homicides in the Woodbridge neighborhood, the highway shooter investigation and Craigslist and convenience store robbery rings.

- Metro Meth – Members respond to, investigate and prevent methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution operations. This squad is the only regional group certified to dismantle clandestine labs in the metropolitan area.

- Administrative – Members work on cases involving prescription drug fraud and abuse and prepare search and arrest warrants for other members of the unit. They also make public presentations to schools, community groups and health centers regarding illegal drug recognition and trends. The squad works in conjunction with the DEA for the nationwide Drug Take Back initiative to safely dispose of all expired and unwanted prescription drugs.

- Undercover – Members investigate mid- to high-level drug activity. The evidence they gather is used in investigations of larger-scale trafficking operations for federal and state prosecutions. Members of this squad investigate heroin overdose deaths for supplier prosecution.

• Crimes Against Children Section – These detectives investigated approximately 1,100 cases in 2015 in which an adult victimized a child age 16 or younger. The types of cases this section is responsible for bringing to prosecution include multiple types of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, endangerment, parental kidnappings and custody violations. Crimes Against Children also works with the Homicide Unit to co-investigate any incidents of a child dying as a result of abuse, neglect or endangerment.

• Cold Case Investigative Elements – Detectives have reviewed thousands of unsolved sexual assault and murder cases in the last decade and have gotten justice for hundreds of victims and their families. The oldest case they solved was a homicide from 1969. While they continue to work cold cases, many of these detectives also now search for missing persons – both adult and juvenile.


Some people might question the need for such specialized units, but we are the largest police department in the largest city in the state of Missouri. These specialized services are needed to address crime that most smaller cities wouldn’t encounter. And our work with youth is critical, too. Many of the youth we work with grow up impoverished, surrounded by drugs and violence. Without some kind of intervention, they can succumb to the negative influences they’re surrounded by and become another generation of people who commit crimes that harm others’ lives and property. I view the work of our Police Athletic League, DARE/GREAT Units and School Resource Officers as a vital crime prevention service.

The services listed above were created with and are supported by the funds generated by the earnings tax. They are not a luxury. They are necessary to effectively police a large and diverse area like our city. But if the tax is eliminated, most – if not all – of these units could be eliminated, too. Remaining staff members would largely be assigned to respond to 911 calls.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org. 

Crime Stoppers benefits us all

What if there were a way to tell police what you knew about a crime without fear of retribution or retaliation, AND you could get a cash reward for that information? There is, and it’s been solving crimes in the Kansas City metro area since 1982.

Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers provides a valuable resource to our department and many others: a way for tipsters to tell police what they know while remaining anonymous. Since their inception 33 years ago, KC Crime Stoppers has helped police arrest suspects in 614 murders and 1,628 robberies, among other crimes, and it’s cleared 24,349 cases. They’ve also paid out more than $1.3 million in reward money. Through February of this year alone, Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers has cleared 50 cases, including violent crimes like aggravated assaults and robberies.

When most people think of getting information to Crime Stoppers, they think of the TIPS Hotline: 816-474-TIPS (8477). And that is an excellent way to do it. But there are many other ways to reach them and still remain anonymous. You can submit a tip electronically at www.KCcrimestoppers.com. Or you can text TIP452 and your information to CRIMES (274637).

Crime Stoppers also partnered with many Northland schools last fall in their Text-A-Tip program, in which middle and high school students can report anything from bullying to someone with a gun in the school. So far it has led to guns and narcotics being recovered and prevented suicides. Crime Stoppers is looking to expand the program into other schools around the metro area and have met with several other school districts.

In case you were unaware, Crime Stoppers is just one program under the umbrellas of the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission. The Commission operates everything from a community service program for offenders sentenced to community service (which cleans up nearly 500,000 pounds of illegally dumped material in our city every year) to Second Chance, a program that helps offenders re-enter their communities after time in incarceration. You can learn more about the Crime Commission at www.kc-crime.org.

We are so fortunate to have such well-operated programs that solve and prevent crimes in Kansas City. Last year, KCPD Detective Kevin Boehm won Crime Stoppers Coordinator of the Year from the National Crime Stoppers organization. Our program is truly one of the best in the country. It gets cash to the people who give us information, it protects their anonymity, it solves crimes, and it brings justice to those who committed crimes. You can’t ask for much more. 

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org 

Police are ready for the new school year

As more and more school districts and private schools return to class this week and in the coming weeks, we ask that you be extra cautious on the roads. Watch for students on foot, in buses and teenage drivers. Drivers must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and stop for buses loading and unloading children.

We will be conducting extra traffic enforcement in school zones to help these students stay safe. We also have received a grant to enforce seat belt usage among teen drivers, so you may see additional police presence around high schools for those purposes, as well.

And this school year marks the first time City Ordinance 120180 has been in place regarding compulsory school attendance. It went into effect yesterday, in fact. Police officers and school district personnel have conducted truancy sweeps in the past, but there were few repercussions. This ordinance allows penalties against parents of truant children ranging from a warning to community service to a $500 fine. Truancy leads to increased crime – everything from burglaries to vandalism – and we hope this will now be less of an issue. 

A new school year isn’t all about enforcement, however. To help those who may not have the tools necessary for academic success, our Records Unit is helping several students with their fourth annual school supply drive. The Police Athletic League partnered with the Upper Room Inc. throughout the summer to bring dozens of students up to grade level in reading.

Many police department members are sending their own children back to school now and in the coming weeks, and we all are hoping for a great year.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Exercise extra caution with schools back in session

Students of the Kansas City Missouri School District went back to class today. They're just one group heading back to the books in the area Kansas City Police serve. Soon to follow will be the Center and Park Hill school districts tomorrow, the North Kansas City School District on Aug. 24 and a host of parochial and charter schools in between. This means many more children, school buses, and inexperienced teen drivers on the road. Please watch out for them and drive cautiously.

When school is in session, KCPD conducts extra traffic enforcement in school zones. Those lower speed limits are there to enable you to stop quickly in case there are school children in the road. We'll also be looking out to ensure drivers are obeying laws when school buses are loading and unloading. Additionally, as we've done in year past, officers will pay special attention to bus stops where children are waiting to be sure they're safe.

If you commute, you may need to build in an extra minute or two for slowing down in school zones or stopping behind school buses, but the children you're protecting will thank you for it.

Send comments to kcpdchecklist@kcpd.org.

Congratulations, KCPD Spanish Immersion graduates

Today, 12 officers graduated from our fifth annual Spanish Immersion program. They are pictured above with their professor, Lucia Villanueva. These officers were taken out of their assignments for 10 weeks to intensively study Spanish. They completed the equivalent of four college semesters of Spanish instruction in this time period. Five of them- those with the top GPAs - have been selected to go to Morelia, Mexico (which is in the state of Michoacan),  for five weeks to stay with host families and further their Spanish studies by taking two more semesters' worth of language and culture. Officers from past KCPD Spanish immersion programs have reported on their experiences there.

During this intensive 10-week course, these 12 officers got one week for spring break. But they didn't stop their studies. Instead, they went out into schools like Alta Vista Charter Middle School and organizations like the Don Bosco Senior Center as "community volunteers." They showed up in plain clothes Monday through Thursday, volunteering alongside the children and seniors, and didn't reveal they were police officers until the Friday of that week. Spanish Immersion program director Officer Lynda Hacker said many of the school children asked repeatedly, "You're really a policeman?" when they found out. We now have even stronger relationships with the future of this city - the children in those schools.

A total of 92 KCPD officers now have graduated from the Spanish Immersion program. Why have we spent the time and money to take these officers off the streets each year to teach them Spanish? The answer is simple: to communicate with those we serve. We are charged with protecting life and property and reducing fear and disorder for everyone who lives, works or plays in the 319 square miles that comprise Kansas City, Mo. In the last 15 years or so, we found we were unable to communicate with some of those we serve. Through this program, we can. We can build trust and learn who the bad guys are and get them off the streets.

Jacob Prada, who serves as the Mexican Consulate General in Kansas City, drove home during his speech at the graduation why this is becoming more important. He said the U.S. Census recorded an increase of 18,000 people to Kansas City's population from 2000 to 2010. Of those 18,000 new people here, 15,000 were Hispanic. That's 5 out of 6. It is incredibly important for the safey of everyone in Kansas City that we have conversations and relationships with these residents. Thanks to the 12 officers who graduated today and the 80 others who have gone before them, we can.

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School zone enforcement

As summer drew to a close and schools started up again for the year, Deputy Chief Cy Ritter told you about all the things our department was doing to keep kids safe. I wanted to share with you the results of just one of those efforts - school zone traffic enforcement. Our Special Operations Division has committed to concentrated enforcement in these areas at least one day a month. In September, officers cited 280 people in school zones in one day - Sept. 1. About 90 percent of those were for speeding. These tickets were issued throughout the city in various school districts.

Are you concerned about people speeding or driving dangerously near your child's school? If you live in Kansas City, call our traffic complaint coordinator at 816-482-8174. He sets officers up for extra enforcement in problem areas.  

Remember, when approaching a school zone, always slow down, even if you don't see any children. Nothing is so important that it's worth injuring a child.

For more information on school zone safety, other traffic enforcement initiatives and even an updated list of the 10 highest-accident intersections in Kansas City, check out the Traffic Enforcement Unit's web page.

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Police focus on back-to-school safety

You may have heard that Chief Corwin is out sick for a few days, so I – Deputy Chief Cy Ritter – will be posting in his absence. We wish Chief a speedy recovery.

This year more than any in recent memory, we’ve received a lot of phone calls from parents concerned about their kids’ safety as they head back to school. Most of those calls have involved bus stops, but there have been other concerns, as well. Today is the second day of school for the Kansas City Missouri School District, which has undergone a lot of changes. Schools have closed and combined, and younger children are now at bus stops earlier. I want to assure you we’ve been responsive to those changes.

Our Special Operations Division officers are focusing on school zones before and after school to stop speeders and others driving dangerously. On their way to the school zones, they’re stopping by school bus stops and checking on students’ safety. Speaking of bus stops, all patrol officers have been ordered to monitor them before and after school when they’re not responding to 911 calls. These operations are in place at all schools in Kansas City, Mo. – including those north of the River, private schools and those in the Southland.

To address some of the issues specific to the reorganization of the Kansas City School District, police have been meeting with principals throughout the summer to determine what kind of police presence would be necessary at schools. Based on this, we realigned our school resource officers in high schools: there are now two at Southwest, two at Central and two at Northeast. Patrol officers also are paying more attention to schools that have been combined. South Patrol Division, for instance, has made it a special project to ensure the safety of students at the combined Hickman Mills/Ruskin High School.

For the first time this year, we’ve assigned our Mounted Patrol officers to patrol school areas, and we’ve asked all patrol division commanders to pick a school each day to visit and introduce themselves at. Community Interaction Officers also are speaking to community groups about school safety and passing out packets with more information.

Things seem to be going smoothly thus far, and we ask parents to continue to work with their children and schools to provide a safe environment for learning as this school year moves forward.

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Watch for children as school starts again

As you know, many schools throughout Kansas City, Mo., are starting up again, and that means you need to watch for children in the roadways, buses, and pay special attention to school zones. Check out this short video with some of our safety tips:


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