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. 

How we're working to interrupt the cycle of violence

There has been much talk about senseless violence in Kansas City, but a recent high-profile case really highlighted what senseless violence looks like and how one bad decision led to another and another. This case rightly received a lot of attention because the victim was a child, and she was shot where all children should feel safe – just outside an event at school.

A chain of tragic, senseless and completely preventable events started the night of Feb. 12 outside a high school basketball game. A 15-year-old girl was murdered in the parking lot at Central High School. An 18-year-old female student at the school and another 21-year-old woman are charged with her murder. It was the result of a dispute that started inside at the game. Instead of talking out their differences or splitting up to cool off, the suspects drove up to the victim just outside the school doors, and the 21-year-old opened fire on her. In her interview with police, the suspect told detectives she “may have overreacted and she wished she would’ve left.” She also said, “I let the fire go.”

Officers identified the suspects in less than an hour. Within 18 hours, they were in custody.

A few days later, on Feb. 16, detectives saw threats posted on social media between the victim’s and suspects’ families. They went to the homes of each to inform them police were aware of the threats and would be closely monitoring their actions. We call these Risk for Retaliation meetings. Later that night, detectives learned a family member of the victim even planned to be arrested so she could retaliate against the suspects inside the Jackson County Jail. Police and jail staff met and formed a plan to prevent that from happening.

The ridiculous violence continued at the funeral of the 15-year-old victim on Saturday, Feb. 23. Given the senselessness that led to her death and threats of retaliation, we assigned uniformed officers to watch over the funeral home and church during her services. They heard multiple gunshots in the church parking lot and saw a vehicle speeding away. They pursued the vehicle, which did not stop, ignored traffic signals and exceeded the speed limits, reaching 75 to 90 mph before it was involved in a hit-and-run collision. The three occupants of the car ran off, throwing two guns along the way. Officers caught all three occupants, and a police canine helped officers find the two loaded guns the suspects had discarded. One of the guns had been reported stolen. All three of those men – ranging in age from 19-22 – now face a variety of felony charges.

All of this violence was for what? What did any of this accomplish other than ending the life of a 15-year-old and ruining the futures of the two young women responsible for her death? What does shooting at the funeral – or any act of retaliation, for that matter – accomplish? No one ever won, the cycle of violence continued, and more lives were put at risk.

This was by no means the first act of violence at the funeral of a Kansas City homicide victim. It has occurred countless times, even in funeral processions driving on the highway. Funerals are supposed to be a time for family members and friends to remember the lives of their loved ones and reflect upon and grieve their loss. They are events that should be surrounded in respect. Yet people who perpetuate the cycle of violence in Kansas City turn funerals into armed conflicts. This is where family members and everyone in Kansas City can get involved. This is where the members of our community can say that kind of behavior isn’t welcome, and if anyone intends to bring anything but an attitude of respect to a funeral, they’re not allowed.

As a police department, we can’t make people have better conflict resolution skills. We can’t be there every time a disagreement over something trivial escalates into violence. What we can and are doing is working to interrupt the cycle of violence, like the aforementioned Risk for Retaliation work we did. It’s why our officers were conducting surveillance outside that funeral. It’s why we seek out and take seriously reports of threats of violence on social media. It’s why we’ve made a concerted effort to work with urban-core teens in programs like the Youth Police Initiative, Youth Citizens Academy and Police Athletic League. Through these and other outreach efforts, we’ve shared anger management tools and built a bridge of trust, so young people don’t try to take matters into their own hands.

But we’re only a small part of the solution. A young person who thinks a gun is the best way to resolve a dispute reached that point long before police became involved. We are doing all we can to interrupt the cycle of violence in Kansas City, but we need your help. Family members, friends and classmates: if you know a potential violent conflict is brewing, please tell us. If we know before an incident occurs, we can save lives. It’s only by working together like this that we can prevent these crimes.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org 

The impact of a social worker partnering with police

There are a lot of people dealing with issues in Kansas City that are frankly not the job of police to address: family problems, poverty, addiction and more. But it is those very issues that create crime problems in our community.

That’s why KCPD took a leadership role in embedding a social worker in one of our inner-city patrol divisions. It’s a unique partnership, and it’s changing people’s lives in a way that enhances public safety. She started in December 2016, and after a year on the job, the impact social worker Gina English is making continues to amaze me.

Lately, she’s taken it upon herself to volunteer and mentor youth incarcerated at the Juvenile Justice Center (JJC). She’s been working to let the young inmates there know that there is support available for them when they get out to do something different with their lives. Since she is working on behalf of KCPD, she’s also planting the seeds of positive relationships between these young people and law enforcement.

Gina was out shopping last week when she ran into one of the young men she’d spoken with at the JJC. He had been released and was working at a retail store. After speaking with him, Gina learned it was one of two jobs he had. He also no longer was attending an alternative school because he’d caught up on all of his work. Now in a regular high school, he’s making all A’s and B’s. This was a young man who had violated the law and was incarcerated, but now he is well on his way to being a productive member of society. After she spoke with him, Gina talked to his manager at the store. She told the manager that the teen was committed to his future, and that she’d made a great decision to take a chance on hiring him.

When a family came into the Central Patrol station this week to inquire about a driver’s license issue, Gina saw their 6-year-old boy didn’t have a coat. Although the family’s problem probably would best have been addressed at the Department of Motor Vehicles, one of our officers called down to Jefferson City to help make inquiries for them. While he was doing so (Gina had directed him to stall the family a bit), Gina ran out and obtained a coat for the boy. They left the station with their questions answered and a new coat, and the whole family had a new appreciation and trust for police.

Gina also got three people into substance treatment last week. As always, she is humble. She told me, “I just take advantage of what’s already available in the community and make connections for them. And how great is it that this help is coming from the place of law enforcement?”

That is just some of what one person did in one week in one area of the city (Central Patrol Division). Imagine what more social workers embedded with law enforcement across the city could do. We are working on funding that vision at each patrol division to create even stronger partnerships between social workers, police department members – especially community interaction officers - and our community. We are willing to forge nontraditional partnerships that work to decrease crime in our city. People who don’t have their basic needs met will always look for alternative means. The KCPD is striving to assist with those alternative means, as opposed to criminal means.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org 

On the Plaza, we'll engage at the level necessary to prevent crime

You might have heard about an incident on the Plaza this weekend in which young people were destructive to property. The situation on the Plaza is not unique to the current teenage generation, nor are the issues unique to Kansas City. In 1983, I recall the street dance era when many African-American youth visited the Plaza on the weekend to participate in the break dance craze or to watch the talented dancers. African-American youth were not welcome on the Plaza then, and the police were not shy about expressing that we were not welcome. When I was 21 years old, a police officer approached a friend and me to tell us that we were not welcome on the Plaza, and he asked us to leave. We questioned him about his desire for us to leave and he responded by grabbing me by the shirt, which resulted in my button being pulled off. I remembered his name.

Upon joining the police department, I met the officer. He was very stern in his communication to others and was respected by his peers. That’s changing. The KCPD is making great strides with building and nurturing relationships in other segments of the community and will continue to do so.

Today's method of policing on the Plaza is based on respect, with less emphasis on enforcement than in decades past. Officers, both on duty and those working off-duty security for the Plaza, have shown a great deal of respect and patience for the youth who visit the Plaza. As I have communicated previously, everyone is welcome to enjoy all parts of our city. All I and others ask is that everyone – old and young alike – adhere to the laws and be respectful of themselves and others. We will not tolerate behavior that jeopardizes safety or behavior that involves any type of destruction of property. Patience and understanding will be shown to everyone, and a zero-tolerance strategy will not be deployed. There is no reason to punish the law-abiding majority for the negative actions of the minority. Those who enjoy the Plaza will dictate our response – we will engage at the level necessary to prevent crime and to keep everyone safe.

For the parents, guardians and others who are concerned, please help us keep our kids safe by setting a positive example, speaking encouraging words and by explaining why it is important to be good citizens. Also, please share curfew times and guidelines with those who are impacted by them.

Mayor Sly James and I regularly discuss Plaza-related issues and often times discuss how we might better provide opportunities for our youth. During the school year, we encourage young people to focus on their school work, be part of school-related activities, join a mentoring program or even get an after-school job. In the summer, the Mayor's Nights and Club KC are several venues where our youth can have fun in safe environments. The time is approaching for the commencement of the Mayor's Night athletic programs and Club KC. The programs begin on May 23, continuing through August 15. Last year, juvenile crime decreased by 18 percent while Club KC was in session. Let's try and show a greater decrease this year.

As a reminder, individuals age 17 and younger are subject to an 11 p.m. curfew on weeknights and a midnight curfew on weekends up until the Friday before Memorial Day. From the Friday of Memorial Day weekend until the last Sunday in September, the curfew is set at 10 p.m. for minors 15 and younger. For minors ages 16 and 17, the curfew is set at 11 p.m. in most parts of the City.

The City’s five entertainment districts -- the Plaza, Westport, Downtown/Central Business District, 18th and Vine, and Zona Rosa -- have a special curfew during those summer months that requires anyone under 18 to be accompanied by a parent or guardian after 9 p.m. during those summer months.

Thank you, Kansas City, for being such a great city, and let us continue to keep our city safe, vibrant and inviting!

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

We'll do our part to address Plaza issues; the rest is up to you

When large groups of unruly young people gather on the Country Club Plaza and incite disorder, police are the ones who are called in to resolve the situation. But this is not solely a police issue. It’s a community issue, and we need the support of the community to solve it. We are going to be taking stronger action than before, but all the police work in the world won’t provide safe gathering places and fun activities for teens. Nor can it suddenly convince parents of these young people that their lack of supervision is unacceptable.

First, there is nothing wrong with children younger than 18 enjoying the amenities our city offers. They are as entitled as anyone else to stroll through our entertainment districts. Those young people who are well behaved, appropriately supervised and act within the law are not my concern. It is the few who incite violence, intimidate others, impede traffic and violate other laws who will be the focus of police attention.

We will be assigning additional officers to the Country Club Plaza on upcoming weekends.  Some will be in uniform, and some will be working under-cover. We will enforce ordinance violations. This means we will arrest and detain juveniles who are breaking the law. No longer will we give numerous warnings. Young people breaking the law will be cited and apprehended, and their parents or guardians must come to our holding area in order for them to be released from custody.  Their parents need to know about their behavior and know that we will be holding them responsible for it. Parents need to know it is unacceptable to let their unsupervised children wander the city.

So expect to see increased numbers of arrests in entertainment districts. At this time, the Country Club Plaza has been the only district at which problems have arisen. If issues pop up elsewhere, we will take the same actions there. 

We are working to address any possible issues at the movie theater, where much of the disorder tends to begin. We also have met with Plaza Security and Highwoods Corporation, which manages the Plaza, to discuss the best approaches for keeping order. Rita Valenciano, a U.S. Department of Justice Conciliation Specialist, will be serving as a mediator between Cinemark Theater, Highwoods and young people to resolve the issues that are arising.

But here’s where the rest of the community comes in. City Councilman John Sharp was correct when he said there are no longer many entertainment outlets for youth in the urban core. We were all teenagers once, and most of us just wanted to go hang out with our friends somewhere on weekends and have fun. Today’s young people want that, too, and we can work together to provide that for them.  Several already are stepping up.

Kansas City Parks and Recreation has agreed to open up the Brush Creek Community Center from 7 p.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays to give young people an entertainment option. We will provide security there. The KCATA will be providing free bus rides for teens from the Plaza to the Community Center (but not the other way around) for the next two weekends.  Local church leaders also are working on coming up with activities for youth.

This is where we need you. We can lament the disorder and espouse negativity. Or we can do something about it. We’re asking you, businesses and organizations of Kansas City, to step up and provide an alternative for these young people. Would your company sponsor a night of fun for youth? Would your church be willing to organize activities? Would your civic group be able to provide access to a fun and safe place? We’re open to suggestions. A free movie or concert.  Karaoke. A sports tournament. A game night. A dance party. Anything where young people will want to gather with their friends and enjoy themselves. Parks and Recreation is able to provide much of this during the summer, but recent incidents have made it clear these outlets for our city’s young people are needed year-round.

The police department is committed to addressing the issues of young people causing disorder on the Country Club Plaza. We can’t provide other entertainment venues for them, however. But many of you can. Ideally, there would be so many other enticing options for teens that they won’t want to just mull around the Plaza.

I pledge to do whatever we can from a public safety perspective to make the Plaza a safe and enjoyable destination for everyone. The rest is up to you.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org 

Police Athletic League is changing lives

I recently attended a Police Athletic League board meeting and was so impressed with what I saw and heard. In case you haven’t heard of it, KCPD’s Police Athletic League (PAL) aims 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 placed on academics. PAL is a non-profit organization staffed by Kansas City Police officers. A board of very generous folks from around the area governs the organization.

The impact PAL has had on the lives of urban-core children, many of whom live in poverty, cannot be overstated. Some of these children have gone on to college with academic and athletic scholarships, attaining careers they never would have thought possible at employers like Ford and Sprint. One graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. Another is an NBA player. I have been so touched and impressed with the difference PAL is making that I've ordered all of our command staff to spend some time at PAL by the end of March to understand the impact it's having on our community.

Below are just a few of PAL’s recent success stories, as shared by Youth Services commander Captain James Thomas:

* One of our seventh/eighth-grade tackle football players passed out during practice. The young man, who is in pretty good shape, was really struggling. The coaches/officers offered first aid, and the young player fortunately suffered no permanent health issues. But in talking with the player, the officers discovered he had not eaten for a couple of days. The officers then met with the single mother and discovered there was little food in the household. Despite working two jobs, she had severe financial struggles, and the kids were often responsible for preparing their own meals while she was at work. The officers immediately developed a plan, reaching out to corporate PAL partners to create an emergency food drive, while contacting city services to link the family with financial assistance. The officers did this in a low-key manner so as not to embarrass the family. The young player had been ashamed of his background and refused to share his struggles with anyone else, even when it made him sick. But because of the relationship he had with the officers of the PAL Center, he finally opened up, and his whole family was able to receive much-needed assistance.

* A PAL officer met a 10-year-old boy at his school while recruiting for our flag football team. He was going down the wrong path, getting in trouble at school and getting bad grades. The boy agreed to play for the team, but his mother disapproved because she didn’t like police. The PAL officer explained the benefits of the PAL program and although skeptical, the mother agreed to let her son participate. In addition to football, he enrolled in the PAL Upper Room reading program. The Officer took on a father/parent figure role and mentored the child, as many of the officers do with all our kids. The young man became an A/B student and has formed a strong bond with the officer. Not only has the young man gained an adult mentor, his mother now has a positive attitude about the police.

 * A young girl came to PAL as a broken 9-year-old. We had no idea of her struggles, but through a relationship with an officer/coach, it was discovered she had low self-esteem and lacked confidence. She was very isolated and had been accosted by an adult family member. The officer asked if she would be interested in boxing. Although reluctant at first, she decided to give it a try. Today, she is a thriving young person full of confidence and a peer leader at PAL. She has found success in school and in the boxing ring. She is a permanent fixture at PAL and is a shadow of the person who first came to us. She mentors, referees games, and assists younger children with homework and reading.

* Two of our PAL kids were involved in a drive-by shooting at their house. The shooting arose out of a dispute over a girl, and a 2-year-old in the home was shot. The toddler was in the hospital for about a week. Although both parents worked, the family had limited income. PAL officers and Board members donated time and money for meals to ensure the family received essential needs. The 2-year-old returned home, and the family celebrated with a donated Thanksgiving Day feast. The officer who was working with the family made a home visit and found that the family did not have enough beds for all family members legs and lived out of a mini refrigerator. A collection was taken among officers and friends of officers to purchase the family two sets of bunk beds and a full-size refrigerator.

* Last month, officers learned a PAL youth was living in a household with no electricity or heat. The family was cooking dinner on a barbecue grill. Board members learned of the situation and procured a stove, water heater and worked with utility companies to get utilities restored to the house. This included a mini makeover of the house to improve insulation and rewiring the house to make it safe.

If you'd like for your child to be involved in the Police Athletic League, call Sergeant Brad Deichler at 816-413-3621.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org  

Cops and Kids Working Together

The Police Athletic League (PAL) is a non-profit organization, staffed by KCPD officers, that offers athletic and academic programs to about 700 urban-core children. The center experienced its most generous year of donations ever, allowing it to upgrade facilities and provide more programs for inner-city youth.

We recently celebrated our Grand Re-Opening of the PAL Center located at 1801 White Avenue on May 1. At the ceremony we were able to showcase the new NFL Chief’s football field with a ribbon cutting, presentation of awards to major donors and honoring the PAL board members. Among those recognized were Curry Real Estate Services, Messengers Lawn and Landscapes, Paul Davis Restoration, United Heating & Cooling, Mark One Electric, The American Fence Association Midwest Chapter and PAL Board Members Nancy Simons, Jim Carr, Larry Washington, Mike Carter, Cindy Mason and Web Bixby.

The donations resulted in a new air conditioner and duct work, partial new roof, landscaping, lighting for new athletic fields, storage sheds and more. More than 50 local businesses supported PAL in 2012 through $750,000 in donations, about a third of those were in-kind. Many came through Christine Lentz of Curry Property Management.

All of the donations have led to a better PAL Center, which is more than 50 years old, and programs that attract more youth. Those youth, in turn, focus their time and energy on something positive to develop critical life and leadership skills instead of becoming involved in criminal activity. The positive relationships they develop can be attributed to both the generous donors and the dedication of the officers involved.

PAL hosted the Upper Room Summer Academic Program for the second year, which helped 180 children come to read at grade level. The program also provides them food, something many don’t get as much of during the summer when schools and their lunch programs are out of session. PAL introduced sewing and gardening programs in 2012 to appeal to more youth, which have drawn great interest. A 7^th/8^th grade football team also took the field for the first time.

This year will be the first time the PAL Center will be a host site for Harvesters, the Community Food Network, which will serve approximately 300 people. I want to thank all those involved in making the PAL Center what it is today. We hope to continue to explore innovative and exciting avenues to keep Cops and Kids Working Together.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

City's youth programming brings peace to the Plaza

Nights at the Country Club Plaza have been quiet so far this summer. But not far away, a youthful crowd is anything but quiet. They’re having swim parties, playing video games, dancing to a professional DJ, learning moves from hip hop instructors, participating in 3-on-3 basketball and Xbox tournaments, watching movies, using computers and having snacks and drinks.

This past weekend alone (July 27-28), 1,050 high-schoolers went to the Brush Creek Community Center to participate in Club KC, a free summer weekend hangout for young people presented by the City of Kansas City. Another 420 middle-schoolers gathered at the Gregg Klice and Tony Aguirre Community Centers last weekend. Those numbers have steadily increased since the City launched the program June 22.

This matters to police because this time last year and in 2010, we were devoting considerable resources to keeping the Plaza safe. Large crowds of young people gathered there, intimidating patrons, vandalizing property and occasionally erupting in violence. We have not had any major incidents on the Plaza this summer and no problems with rowdy crowds. This can be attributed to several things: curfews imposed last year and increased police presence. But I believe the opportunity the City is providing youth is the primary reason.

Club KC has shown that if you give young people (it’s open to ages 12-18) a place to go, they’ll go there and be constructive. Our officers provide security at Club KC events, and there have been no problems at them.

It takes resources for Parks and Recreation to put on this programming, but it’s difficult to argue how well it’s working. How much more money would it cost to put a sizeable police presence on the Plaza every weekend? How much tax revenue would the City lose if residents stopped patronizing businesses there out of fear? A small investment in community centers and their programming saves both the KCPD and the entire city a lot in the long run.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Plaza patrol plan goes into effect this weekend

We will implement our Plaza patrol plan this weekend to ensure everyone can safely enjoy the city’s most venerable entertainment and retail district.

The past two years, as the weather warmed up, hundreds of youth congregated on the Country Club Plaza. The crowds sometimes broke out into violence and intimidated Plaza visitors. We will not tolerate this. We will arrest juveniles for any criminal offenses and curfew violations.

We will have additional officers on the Plaza this weekend and every weekend through the fall. Most of these officers are on special over-time assignments, so police presence in the rest of the city will not be affected. Plaza management also is hiring additional off-duty KCPD officers and augmenting their private security. Mounted Patrol officers will be present on horseback. They have proved to be highly effective at crowd control. Officers on ATVs and a Tactical Team also will have a presence. Plain-clothes, under-cover officers also will be out, looking for signs of trouble.

A separate detention area for juveniles who are arrested will be set up and operated in a police facility.

At present, the curfew is 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends for anyone younger than 18. Those will become earlier in the summer: the Friday before Memorial Day through the last Sunday in September. In entertainment districts like the Plaza, the curfew will be 9 p.m. in the summer. In the rest of the city, the curfew will be 10 p.m. for those 15 and younger, and 11 p.m. for 16-and 17-year-olds. Parents will be issued citations for the curfew violations of their children.

We have sent letters to area schools asking them to remind parents that they are responsible for their children’s actions. Parents need to know their children’s friends and the parents of their friends. They need to know where their children are and what they are doing. They need to be monitoring their children’s social networks.

We ask parents, teachers and even young people to alert police if they hear about a large gathering being planned. Police will be monitoring social networks, as well.

Ultimately, youth congregating into unruly crowds in entertainment districts isn’t a police issue. It is a parenting and community issue. So we ask for the cooperation of parents and the community to make these entertainment districts the enjoyable places they were intended to be.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Honoring a (very) young hero

I had the privilege last night of meeting Jason J. Smith II. Jason has personally witnessed more tragedy in his nine years than most adults ever will. In the face of that tragedy, he acted courageously, and we honored him with a Life-Saving Certificate last night - an award normally reserved for police officers. Here is his story:

An unlikely hero emerged from a tragic double homicide on July 28, 2011: 9-year-old Jason J. Smith II.

A little before 1:30 a.m. that night, Jason was asleep next to his grandmother and 2-year-old brother, Zion. His mother was asleep in another room. His mother’s ex-boyfriend came into the home and shot Jason’s grandmother as he lay next to her. She was holding the 2-year-old when she was murdered. The suspect left the room, and Jason grabbed his baby brother, put him on his back, and ran next door to a neighbor’s house. As he ran, he heard more gunshots. The ex-boyfriend had just killed his mother, as well. Jason told the neighbor his grandmother had been shot and needed help. The neighbor saw that Zion had blood on his clothes and quickly called police.

Homicide Unit Detective Brent Taney said, “Jason showed a tremendous amount of bravery and courage while acting in a selfless manner that probably saved his younger brother’s life, as well as his own.”

But his bravery didn’t stop there. Shortly after the homicides and in the face of the trauma he’d just experienced, Jason gave a detailed statement of what happened and an accurate description of the suspect. This led police to the suspect very quickly. Detective Taney said Jason’s quick identification of the suspect likely protected other family members from harm, as well.

Two weeks after the murders, Jason ran into a KCPD officer working security for a grocery store and told her he dreams of being a police officer when he grows up.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Police bust Northland businesses selling synthetic drugs

PRESS RELEASE:

Kansas City Police and other law enforcement agencies busted two Northland businesses today for selling synthetic narcotics.

Officers with the Synthetic Drug Task Force served search warrants at Discount Smokes at 2518 NE Vivion Road and the Shell Station at Vivion and Antioch roads. They arrested store employees and recovered synthetic drugs such as “plant food,” “syn,” “K2,” and “bath salts.”

Police recovered approximately 1,100 grams of suspected synthetic drugs, several thousand dollars worth of drug paraphernalia and a loaded firearm. Four people were arrested and face multiple charges for the sale of controlled substances.

“These stores and their management had been warned multiple times,” KCPD Captain Chelly Pfeifer said. “They were presented with letters from the Clay County prosecutor outlining that the substances were illegal.”

Kansas City Police have been investigating the stores targeted in today’s search warrants for as long as 10 months.

Missouri legislators banned synthetic narcotics in August 2010. The drugs have been found to be chemically similar to marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illegal substances. They cause significant physical harm and psychosis that can lead to injury or suicide.

The multi-jurisdictional Synthetic Drug Task Force convened in November 2011 to combat the continuing sales of illegal synthetic drugs. The Task Force includes the Kansas City, Gladstone and North Kansas City police departments; Platte and Clay County sheriff’s departments; the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office; and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Captain Chelly Pfeifer is president of the Northland Coalition – an organization dedicated to creating healthy and drug-free communities. The Coalition heard from a woman whose son nearly died from using synthetic drugs and still suffers significant physical problems. Talking to teenagers involved in the Northland Coalition, she learned many knew other teens who used the drugs and knew where to get them.

“I said, ‘We have to do something,’” she said. “… Our kids are getting involved in this stuff. They have the notion if it’s sold in a gas station, it’s OK. It’s ‘herbal.’ But it has devastating effects.”

Sergeant Brad Dumit of KCPD’s Vice Section said he wanted today’s actions against the stores selling the synthetic drugs to convey it will not be tolerated.

“We want to send the message that selling these things is illegal,” he said. “It’s illegal to possess it, distribute it and sell it.”

Capt. Pfeifer said the efforts of the Synthetic Drug Task Force will be ongoing.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

Police driving instructors to mentor students in car-building program

Our December Informant newsletter has an interesting story about a collaboration between a group that seeks to teach inner-city kids skills by building electrical vehicles and the KCPD. Check out the story below and the video at the end:

What started as providing a set for a documentary film turned into a mentoring opportunity for the Kansas City Police Academy driving instructors.

This fall, owners and mentors from MINDDRIVE and a film crew from L.A., working for Translogic-AOL, did a film shoot at KCPD’s own Police Academy driving course, covering a story on MINDDRIVE’s car and program.

According to their web site, MINDDRIVE is a non-profit, after-school program for at-risk high school students that uses experiential learning methods administered by instructors and mentors. 

MINDDRIVE inspires students to learn, expand their vision of the future and have a positive influence on urban workforce development. They achieve this by teaching the students how to build a car. By doing this, the students have progressed into welders, battery experts and even working with MINDDRIVE’s web site and social media.

After learning of MINDDRIVE and all the good it does for the urban core of Kansas City, the instructors from the Academy decided this would be a great opportunity to help.

“We have a community responsibility over and above fighting crime,” Director Rick Brisbin of the Special Projects Section said. “We want to be more of a role model for these kids.”

In addition to letting them test drive the car they built on KCPD’s driving course, the Academy driving instructors plan to put together a course for these students to teach them how to drive and prepare them to take their drivers’ license tests.

Those who are old enough to drive will definitely need their license. They are planning a coast-to-coast trip in March 2012. Project Reynard, MINDDRIVE’s second car, will be driven non-stop from San Diego, Calif., to Jacksonville, FL using quick-charge technology. They plan to split the trip into two segments and fly half of the students to San Diego who will travel to San Antonio, Texas. Then, they will fly home, and the other half will fly in and continue their trip to Jacksonville, Fla.

They hope to find a sponsor to send all of the students to Washington DC to have their car displayed at the Capital building at the end of their successful demonstration run.

“I feel that kids under the right tutelage can get more engaged,” added Brisbin. “This is one of the more inspiring things you will ever get to be a part of.”

MINDDRIVE Mentor and Marketing Strategist, Linda Buchner commented that, “Having a driver's license will give our students a lot more freedom as well as the potential for getting jobs. Many are old enough but haven't had the motivation to go ahead and get the license.”

And KCPD driving instructors will get to have a hand in pushing them toward that self-reliance.


To learn more about MINDDRIVE, visit their web site at http://minddrive.org.


 

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

Have a happy - and safe - Halloween

If you're looking for a fun, safe place to take the kids for Halloween tonight, head out to the Seventh Annual Safe Trick-or-Treat event, sponsored by KCPD's North and Shoal Creek patrol divisions and Northland Neighborhoods Inc. The festivities will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Metro North Mall at 400 NW Barry Rd at the southwest entrance by the old JC Penney's. The event is free and for children 12 and younger. It will feature a spooky haunted house, games, candy and fun. Bring you camera to get pictures of your costumed kids in the photo area, as well.

If you can't make it to Safe Trick-or-Treat, the police have some tips to keep Halloween safe and fun for everyone:

♦ Check your children’s candy before they eat it! Send them out with safe “starter” candy.
♦ Remind children to NEVER enter anyone’s home or car.
♦ Have all children trick or treat in groups.
♦ Set a time for trick or treaters to be home and remind them to call 911 if there is unlawful or suspicious activity.
♦ Tie small glow sticks or use reflective tape on your child’s costume so they are easily seen in the dark.
♦ Always walk. Never run across a street.
♦ Have adults walk the neighborhood to discourage malicious mischief and keep children safe.
♦ Remind children to stay in populated places and not use back alleys or fields.
♦ Avoid replica toy guns - They may be mistaken for the real thing!
♦ Children should obey all traffic signs and look before crossing the street. Never cross between parked cars, in the middle of a block or diagonally through intersections.
♦ Do not leave your home unattended - Keep pets inside.
♦ Use Jack-O-Lanterns or high intensity glow sticks to light porch steps. Make sure trick-or-treaters are safe.
♦ Only give out commercially wrapped treats.
♦ Have an old-fashioned neighborhood Halloween block party to get to know neighbors.
♦ Obey all traffic and pedestrian regulations.
♦ Only trick or treat in neighborhoods where you know residents and at houses with porch lights on.
♦ Make sure young children are accompanied by an adult or responsible teenager when they go door-to-door.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

Police Athletic League and Upper Room make strides in reading program

I mentioned last week about our PAL-Upper Room graduation on Aug. 5. Our Informant newsletter delves more into just how successful the program was at improving the literacy skills of the children our Police Athletic League serves. And be sure to check out photos of the graduation on our Facebook page and the video below the story made by one of the PAL Board members documenting how the 8-week program went:

Nearly 100 children increased their reading levels this summer in a new partnership between the Police Athletic League and the Upper Room Program.

The average participant in the eight-week program at PAL gained four months of reading grade level.

“They did very well,” said Jerry McEvoy, executive director of Upper Room.

Upper Room started in 1999 in a church at 59th and Swope Parkway to provide out-of-school education to inner-city children from low-income families. The non-profit program spread across the city, mostly in churches. But McEvoy said they started looking at areas where churches didn’t have the classroom space to support the program.

The Police Athletic League (PAL) got involved after a PAL Board member’s own children attended one of Upper Room’s summer academic camps last year. She called the Upper Room and asked if they’d like to partner with PAL. The directors said they would consider it and made a site visit to the PAL Center at 1801 White Ave. in spring 2011. Officers at PAL were eager to bring Upper Room’s opportunities to the neighborhood children.

“We wanted them here for the kids in the PAL community,” said Sergeant Martin Cobbinah, a supervisor of KCPD PAL.

McEvoy said he was impressed with officers who worked at PAL and their desire to help the children they serve.

“That’s what convinced us (to partner with them),” McEvoy said. “They were very aggressive in wanting to give the kids more academic opportunities. They felt the kids could learn more.”

And they have. Simply through word-of-mouth marketing by PAL officers, more than 100 children going into first through eighth grades signed up for the rigorous program, taught by certified teachers with assistance from PAL officers and volunteer tutors. The Summer Academic Camp ran from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each weekday. Students spent the first part of their days working with teachers and tutors on reading and some math, taking tests to determine their proficiency. After a provided lunch, children engaged in a variety of fun and cultural activities and were given time to read books.

Graduates who have missed fewer than two days of the program and averaged an 85 percent or higher score on their reading exams receive a monetary reward. The Upper Room funds the program.

The Upper Room and PAL will continue their partnership with an after-school program this fall and another round of academic summer camp next year. Anyone interested in being a volunteer tutor in these programs can call 913-339-8332. Training will be provided.

Operation HAY (Horses and Youth)

For several years now, our Mounted Patrol Section has done an amazing job reaching out to inner-city children in a program we like to call Operation HAY - Horses and Youth. We posted several pictures on KCPD's Facebook page of the group that came out last Tuesday.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, children ages 7 to 18 who participate in the City's day camp programs through Kansas City Parks and Recreation come out to Mounted Patrol's stables in the Lake of the Woods area of Swope Park. The Mounted Patrol officers teach them all about horses and many aspects of horsemanship, such as how safely approach, care for, clean and outfit a horse. Every child also gets the chance to ride the horses.

Many of these children are from the urban core and have never before even been near a horse. Some are even scared of these gentle giants (KCPD horses must meet a certain height requirement - all are donated by area horse lovers), and the officers try to ease their fears. There is very little about policework discussed: it's true horsemanship training. Check out the pictures of the latest intrepid learners/riders!

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Building up Boy Scouts in the urban core

There's a story in this edition of our department's Informant newsletter about the work I and some other officers have been doing off the clock to promote Scouting in the inner city. I really believe this is a great program that could benefit untold young people, so I wanted to share the newsletter article:

Before there was an Ike jacket with four arm bands, there was a sash full of merit badges.

Police Chief James Corwin became a Cub Scout in the 1960s, and now as an executive-level leader in the area’s Boy Scouts of America council, he’s trying to get more urban-core boys involved in scouting. He’s an executive director for the Boy Scouts of America’s Heart of America Council as chair of the Urban Scouting Committee.

“It’s a proven program with a solid values system,” said Chief Corwin, himself an Eagle Scout.

Chief Corwin said many children could benefit from the leadership skills taught in Boy Scouts. Which is why he wants to expand the program in a place that tends to be under-served: the inner city. To do so, he wanted to do a brainstorming session with former urban Scouts and current urban Scout troop leaders. Luckily, he knew just where to look.

“KCPD has many, many people who have been involved in troops in the urban core, both as children and as adult leaders,” Chief Corwin said.


He called them all together on meetings March 24 and 25 to discuss what urban scouting programs are getting right and where they need to improve. Twenty officers and commanders showed up to these meetings and came up with a variety of ideas. First, they identified the barriers that prevent inner-city kids from participating in Scouts – things like transportation, a lack of volunteers, and little funds for things like uniforms and camping trips.


“We also discussed that the traditional Monday night Scout meeting may not work for people like single moms,” Chief Corwin said. “A lot of problems all scout programs have are exaggerated in the urban core.”

The Boy Scouts’ Scoutreach program provides after-school activities and meetings for Cub Scouts, and Chief Corwin said that’s a model Kansas City’s urban troops could convert to.

He said he’s also concerned about what will happen when the Kansas City Missouri School District moves forward with closing nearly half its schools this year, several of which sponsor Boy Scout troops. One possible solution he and the group of scouting cops came up with: have KCPD patrol stations sponsor those troops instead. The stations could provide meeting space, and the officers could provide volunteers. The group also is looking at recruiting retirees and community members to volunteer. He said a partnership involving a large number of Leawood, Kan.-based Eagle Scouts coming to mentor and assist troops in the inner city also is showing signs of success.

Another program Chief Corwin hopes will reinvigorate urban scouting is the Explorers program. Sponsored by Boy Scouts, Explorers offers teenagers a chance to get police training and volunteer alongside officers. KCPD used to have an Explorers program, and Chief Corwin said efforts are underway to resurrect it.

Chief Corwin plans to take the Police Department’s ideas to the Urban Scouting Committee next month, followed by a full presentation to the Heart of America Council.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

Meeting on youth issues brings stakeholders to the table

If there’s anything today’s meeting of youth advocates taught me, it’s that we have some really smart young adults in this town. When they heard the police were going to facilitate a meeting for youth advocates, four Central High School students called my office last week and said they’d like to come. They told me they’d done a problem-solving exercise at school in which they identified problems facing Kansas City’s youth and brainstormed solutions. I asked to see their presentation, and I was blown away by what they had to say. They were spot-on on several accounts, so I invited them to speak at today’s meeting at Police Headquarters and give their presentation to the larger group.

A little over a week ago, we realized the need to get all the people who advocate and provide services for youth in our city into one place. I approached it much like I did the city’s homelessness issue a few years back. We discovered there were dozens of groups in Kansas City who served the homeless, but they were working separately for the most part. We realized we could do so much more together, so we started a Homelessness Task Force that brought dozens of people to the table who work with the homeless every day in some way or another, including police, hospital staff, shelter leaders and social workers. This group has now morphed into an official City task force and is working to draft policies that we hope will someday eliminate homelessness in Kansas City.

I want to model the process for finding solutions to youth issues after this process. That’s what today was all about: bringing together the people who can identify and solve the problems facing today’s teens and having them work cooperatively. The four students from Central High School were not originally on yesterday’s agenda, but when they called me and explained their message, I knew they were a Godsend that had to be part of this process. Several of the teens at today’s meeting said they hadn’t heard of many of the youth programs represented, and we hope we can change that by bringing them together.

These youth advocacy meetings will continue but will no longer be facilitated by police. With our Police Athletic League and DARE programs we’re a natural partner, but the City is taking the lead from here on out. Thalia Cherry, youth advocate in the City Manager’s Office, is organizing a public focus group at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 22, in the College Basketball Experience at 13th and Grand downtown. City Council Members Cindy Circo and Sharon Sanders-Brooks are drafting a Youth Master Plan for Kansas City. This momentum is very exciting, and I’m looking forward to what can be achieved when those who are passionate about helping kids all come together.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org