Technology helps police "bust" felony suspects

We’re six months into an initiative that is bringing residents and police together to solve crimes, and it’s working just like we’d hoped.

We launched the Busted page on our web site in November 2019. This web page features suspects who have been caught on camera committing felony crimes, everything from burglaries to shootings. Previously, these pictures and video had only been circulated internally at KCPD or with other area law enforcement. Detectives are now sharing them with the public to get as many as eyes as possible to identify suspects and close cases. With the proliferation of security cameras, many more cases now feature video and photos as pieces of evidence.

All cases are felony-level, and therefore eligible for rewards through the TIPS Hotline. Each Busted case features a link to the online, anonymous TIPS submission form. Tips leading to an arrest will be eligible for anonymous cash rewards. Each case is featured on the Busted page for 30 days.

We’ve had some really good success with Busted. It’s hard to put a number on crimes it’s solved, because often identifying a suspect is just the beginning of an investigation. Anecdotally, about 20 to 25% of the cases featured on Busted result in a suspect getting identified. I’ll share a few success stories with you:

Within days of us launching Busted, a tip helped detectives pin down an identify thief who had used someone else’s identity to fraudulently purchase vehicles. 

Charges were recently filed in a case in which two men assaulted and stole money from a victim who had just withdrawn it from an ATM at a convenience store. A tipster who saw it on Busted helped identify a suspect who was wearing a not-so-subtle pink “Golden Girls” shirt.

Busted also has helped us identify felony-level shoplifters ...

 burglars ...

and even shooters in aggravated assaults ... 

Cases are added regularly, so I encourage you to check back on the page often.

Busted is one of several initiatives we’ve embarked on to more directly involved Kansas Citians in solving crime. Another is our WatchKC program, in which residents can let us know they have security cameras so we can contact them in an event there is a crime in their neighborhood with which video evidence could help.

As technology expands, we look forward to offering more of these crime-fighting partnership opportunities with you in the future. 

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org. 

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.

Web site will go down this weekend

Just a heads up I wanted to pass along - the KCPD web site (www.kcpd.org) will go down tomorrow, Oct. 30, from about 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. while the City upgrades their servers. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience. But hopefully you won't be on the computer much tomorrow because you'll be out at our final Meet Your Police Department event at Central High School!

Have a great, safe Halloween weekend.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

We're experiencing some technical difficulties...

12:30 UPDATE: We're back online!
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12:15 UPDATE: Well, it's unfortunately taking longer than 5 minutes. Stay tuned.
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I just wanted to warn everyone that the KCPD web site (http://www.kcpd.org/) will be going down at noon today, hopefully for just 5 minutes. We're currently unable to update the page and are working out some problems and will reboot everything at noon. There's a possiblity it will be down for longer than five minutes, and if that's the case, we'll let you know.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

It's here!

The all new http://www.kcpd.org/ launched at about 8 a.m. today. Check out the new design, all the new features and more.

The site was designed to be intuitive, user-friendly and to provide the most information in as few clicks as possible. It has everything from the latest KCPD news to videos to crime statistics in your neighborhood to contact information for nearly every unit on the department.

Handy features include: A-to-Z navigation, which allows you to search by letter of the alphabet (for example – you can go to “N” if you’re looking for North Patrol Division); an in-depth careers page to inform you all about jobs at KCPD and how to apply; maps to show you what patrol division you live in; and Board of Police Commissioners meeting videos, minutes and agendas.

KCPD Media Unit staff designed the site in conjunction with the City of Kansas City and The EBS Group of Lenexa, Kan.

Let me know what you think of the new site at kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

New KCPD web site launches Jan. 4

We'll be ringing in 2010 with a brand new web site, a preview of which is above. The new site will be easier to navigate, more organized and packed with useful information, resources, and interesting features. We've been working on this since early summer 2009. The new site will have the same address: www.kcpd.org, and will launch the morning of Jan. 4, 2010.