Kansas City Police release audits on pager use, Fugitive Apprehension staffing

PRESS RELEASE:

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department’s Internal Audit Unit released two audits today, one regarding the use of department cell phones and pagers and another about staffing needs in the Fugitive Apprehension and Arraignment Section.

Internal auditors discovered that the department had been paying nearly $17,000 annually for 229 pagers that were no longer in use. The audit recommended better tracking of these pagers and reducing their use as much as possible. Since November 2008, the department has reduced the number of pagers used by 24 percent. The audit also pointed out that the department funds 519 cell phones at a cost of $218,400 a year. Another 39 cell phones are funded by grants. The audit found little issue with cell phone usage and pointed out that the Fiscal Division commander addresses any questionable charges.

The other audit addressed a recommendation from a department task force that stated two additional detectives in the Fugitive Apprehension and Arraignment Section could result in more than 670 additional warrants served a year. The audit found this calculation was incorrect and recommended another model for predicting staffing needs.

The full audit reports are available here.

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Citizen Satisfaction Survey results

I was very pleased to review the scores police received on the city’s most recent Citizen Satisfaction Survey: 62 percent of respondents said they were satisfied or very satisfied with overall quality of police protection, up 2 percentage points from the previous year. Another 49 percent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the visibility of police in neighborhoods, up 5 percentage points from last year.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to see numbers much higher than this, but we are steadily working toward that goal. Consider that in 2005, just 52 percent of Kansas Citians said they were satisfied with the overall quality of police protection. We have increased that number 10 percentage points since then, and it’s no accident.

During my tenure as Chief, we have embraced a data-driven approach to policing. This process identifies some of our biggest crime issues and areas and allocates resources to fight those specific problems. We also did a sweeping audit of all the department’s processes and formed eight task forces to implement the recommendations of the audit through the Blueprint for the Future initiative. Furthermore, we increased manpower to get more officers on the street, something which is becoming more and more difficult in these tough budget times.

But above all these things, we have adhered to the concept of community policing. The U.S. Department of Justice defines this as “a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.” The Department of Justice recognized our efforts and scored us as one of the best community-policing agencies in the country during the recent Recovery Act grant process. More than data or audits, our primary goal is to serve and protect the people of Kansas City.

In 2007, we adopted a new strategic plan that had goals of increasing our Citizen Satisfaction Survey scores by 2 percent annually. We’re right on track with achieving this goal. I want to thank the men and women of this department for dedicating themselves to addressing the concerns of the people who call Kansas City home. I assure you that we will not let up until these survey scores are higher, more people feel safe and more are satisfied with overall police protection.

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Agenda for Sept. 10 Board of Police Commissioners business meeting

1. Scheduled Meetings:

Board Meetings:

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
9:00 a.m., 6th Floor, Board Room

Business Session:

Thursday, October 8, 2009
8:30 a.m., 6th Floor, Board Room

Audit Committee Meeting:

Thursday, September 10, 2009
11:00 a.m., 6th Floor, Board Room

2. Approval of Minutes

a. August 13, 2009 Business Session.

3. Ms. I. Pearl Fain – Office of Community Complaints.
a. General Discussion.

4. Chief James Corwin.
a. Blueprint Discussion.
b. FY 10 Budget Implementation Update.
c. Jail Consolidation.
d. Community Backed Anti-Drug Tax (COMBAT) Resolution.
e. General Discussion.

5. Deputy Chief Nick Nichols – Executive Officer.
a. General Discussion.

6. Deputy Chief Cyril Ritter – Patrol Bureau.
a. General Discussion.

7. Deputy Chief Rachel Whipple – Administration Bureau.
a. General Discussion.

8. Deputy Chief Kevin Masters – Investigations Bureau.
a. General Discussion.

9. Deputy Chief Darryl Forte - Executive Services Bureau.
a. Adjustments to Special Revenue Accounts for Fiscal Year 2009- 10.
b. FY 2009 Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program.
c. U.S. Marshals Service Donation and Award.
d. General Discussion.

10. Director Rick Brisbin – Professional Development and Research Bureau.
a. General Discussion.

11. Lisa S. Morris – Office of General Counsel.

12. Future Business Meeting Agenda Items.

13. Ms. Jennifer Atterbury.

14. Chief James Corwin.

15. Mayor Mark Funkhouser.

16. Commissioner Patrick McInerney.

17. Commissioner James B. Wilson.

18. Commissioner Karl Zobrist.

19. Commissioner Mark C. Thompson.

20. Motion to go into Closed Session.

21. Informational Items:
a. Health Insurance Consultant Recommendation.

Only a few more days to vote for Kansas City and help PAL

You only have a few more days to vote for Kansas City to help the Police Athletic League earn $15,000. Click here to vote for KC.

PAL could get the money if Kansas City gets the most votes in a mayoral fantasy football league by Friday, Sept. 11. Mayor Mark Funkhouser is competing with ten other mayors in a Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football League this fall.

The Mayoral Face-Off includes mayors from Buffalo, Green Bay, Oakland, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Francisco and Tampa Bay. The prize for the winning Mayor is $15,000, to be designated to a non-profit sports program. Mayor Funkhouser is designating his winnings to go to the Police Athletic League. Another $15,000 will go to the city with the most votes at the Mayoral Face-Off home page. Kansas City-area football fans can support the Police Athletic League by going to the Yahoo Mayoral Fantasy Football page and voting for Kansas City. The city with the most votes on the Mayoral Face-Off home page by Sept. 11 will win $15,000 for their sports program.

If you've already voted once, you can vote again. So please go vote for Kansas City!

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Resolution for Homelessness Commission to come before City Council committee

PRESS RELEASE:

A resolution to form a homelessness commission will come before the Public Safety and Neighborhoods Committee at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The resolution is an outgrowth of a June 26 conference called From This Day Forward: Ending Homelessness in Kansas City, sponsored by the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.

The resolution proposes a 30+-member task force composed of seven City Council members, Police Chief Jim Corwin, civic leaders and legal and social service experts who work with the homeless. The commission’s task will be to draft a 10-year plan to end homelessness, much like other cities have done. If the commission is approved by the full City Council, the plan should be completed by September 2010.

“The commission will study successful programs on homelessness nationwide and will examine existing services in Kansas City to make policy recommendations to city and county governments in this region,” said Dr. George Harris, who served as a co-chair of an earlier homelessness task force.

Since 2007, local United Way 211 calls indicate a 45-percent increase in the need for homelessness prevention services in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Chief Corwin began addressing the issue by facilitating a task force on homelessness beginning in 2007. The task force was composed of law enforcement and leaders of the judiciary, hospitals and homeless shelters.

“The task force was to encourage the development of improved alternative services to people on the streets who are guilty of no crime except poverty,” Dr. Harris said.

That task force planned the June 26 conference and concluded a formal Commission on Homelessness with political support would best be able to recommend policy changes with the goal of eliminating homelessness. That is what is being proposed in Wednesday’s Public Safety and Neighborhoods Committee meeting Wednesday. If approved by the Committee, the creation of a Homelessness Commission would later go up for a vote before the full City Council.

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Suspect killed in police shooting identified

At 7:50 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6., a KCPD officer was dispatched on a noninjury accident at 113th and Sycamore streets. Another officer running radar eight blocks away joined the dispatched officer in case he needed back-up. Police saw a Jeep had crashed into a tree. Witnesses told police that the driver got out of the Jeep carrying a handgun and walked north on Sycamore. Officers located the suspect in a park at 112th Terrace and Sycamore. Officers approached him in their vehicles. As they were exiting their cars, the suspect turned and shot at the officers. Officers returned fire, striking and killing him.

The suspect who was shot and killed by police has been identified as 36-year-old Exae Chavez-Gutierrez of Grandview, Mo.

The two officers involved in the shooting have 28 years and 13 years of law enforcement experience, respectively. They are currently on paid administrative leave, which is routine in all Kansas City Police shootings.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.

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Thanks for 43 years of service, Bob Turgeon

At the last Board of Police Commissioners meeting Aug. 25, an extremely dedicated public servant quietly retired from his position.

Robert Turgeon has been on the board of the Kansas City Police Employees’ Retirement System since June 12, 1966, most recently as treasurer. He was appointed by the Board of Police Commissioners that year and has been re-appointed every two years since. He has received a whopping $10 a month for his work. And all of it was in addition to his day job as owner of Turgeon Commercial Real Estate and Insurance.

The Retirement Board oversees both the KCPD’s police and civilian retirement systems, which at last check had about $629 million in total assets serving more than 1,100 retirees. The board consists of five elected members, two members appointed by the Board of Police Commissioners and two appointed by the Kansas City Council.

I want to thank Bob Turgeon for all his work for KCPD retirees these past 43 years. He is a true public servant. I also want to welcome aboard Pat Trysla, managing partner of Frontier Investment Banking Corp., who was appointed to replace Bob Turgeon.

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Suspect wanted for hitting officer with motorcycle

Police are looking for this man, 25-year-old Franklin T. Atwell. He is 5 feet 11 inches tall with brown hair and green eyes. He was last known to be staying in the Gardner or Spring Hill, Kan., area. His parents live in Cleveland, Mo.

Atwell is wanted for assault on a law enforcement officer. On July 9, a group of motorcyclists was loitering at the Quik Trip at 9640 North Oak Trafficway. An officer asked them to disperse, and when they did not, he started asking to look at the bikers' identifications. When he approached one, the man tried to drive away. The officer tried to grab his arm when a second motorcyclist struck the officer from behind and knocked him over. The officer suffered minor injuries.

If you know the whereabouts of Franklin Atwell, call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

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New bureau focuses on training and research

Until recently, the Kansas City Missouri Police Department was broken into four bureaus: Administration, Patrol, Investigations and Executive Services. (You can see our whole organizational structure on pages 8 and 9 of our 2008 Annual Report.) We've now added a fifth bureau: the Professional Development and Research Bureau. You can read all about it in this article from our September newsletter:

So important are training and being on the cutting edge of law enforcement trends that Chief James Corwin decided to create a new bureau devoted to them.

The new Professional Development and Research Bureau was established Aug. 23. It encompasses the Planning and Research Division, the Training Division and the remainder of the Blueprint for the Future project.

“Since I’ve been Chief, I’ve always talked about the importance of professional development and research,” Chief Corwin said. “It’s a natural fit with our training at the Academy. To really walk the talk, we raised it to the bureau level.”

Director Rick Brisbin, retired Chief of the Kansas City, Mo., Fire Department and most recently executive officer of KCPD’s Administration Bureau, will lead the new bureau.

“This guy’s really talented,” Chief Corwin said of Director Brisbin. “He thinks totally outside of our box.”

Despite his new position, Director Brisbin will remain Director Brisbin. Chief Corwin said although it is unusual for someone without the rank of deputy chief to lead a bureau, “it doesn’t make any difference what we hang on our collars.” The department had no money for promotions this year other than sergeants, and they stuck to it with the creation of the new bureau.

For his part, Director Brisbin said he is splitting his days between his office in Headquarters and one at the Academy. The Academy no longer has a Major commanding it – Brisbin will be responsible for its full operation. He said he has several goals for it, including marketing its basic and advanced training capabilities to agencies across the region, and not just law enforcement. He thinks the private sector could benefit from KCPD-led courses, too. He also wants to build on the Leadership Academy.

“It’s our pearl, the next generation of training in the police business,” Brisbin said.

Chief Corwin said this eventually could include a partnership with a college or university.

As for the Planning and Research Division, Director Brisbin said the focus will shift more to research of emerging trends rather than periodic policy revisions. It will take on some of the characteristics of the Blueprint project, which involved a thorough audit of the department’s practices and task forces of hundreds who figured out how to make things better.

“Blueprint was really about research and critical introspection, and what cutting-edge police departments are doing,” Brisbin said. “So we thought, ‘How do we institutionalize that?’ It’s not research on a periodic or project basis. … We need to achieve a real balance between research and policies and procedures, which also are very important.”

Chief Corwin said he wants the creation of the bureau to send a message:

“We really mean that professional development and research are critical to this organization.”

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Officer recognized for catching bank robbers

Officer Kevin Growney has a knack for catching bank robbers, which is why I gave him a Certificate of Commendation last week.

The most recent incident took place on March 28, 2009, when a man walked into a bank in Brookside and handed over a business card with a written demand for all of the $100-, $50- and $20-dollar bills the teller had. He took off with $1,780. The teller reported the suspect’s appearance and what he was wearing, including a black raincoat.

Officer Kevin Growney was nearby when the call went out and immediately began canvassing the area for the suspect. A resident told Officer Growney that a man had been running through backyards near 65th and Wyandotte. He went to that area and observed a man walking down the street who was suspiciously dry, despite the heavy rain. When Officer Growney approached the man, he was very nervous and acted as though he had just physically exerted himself. Although he wasn’t wearing a raincoat, the rest of the description matched, and Officer Growney took him into custody on a traffic warrant. When officer Growney searched the suspect, he found $1,780 in his pants pocket. A subsequent canvass of the area found the man’s rain jacket and hat as well as a box cutter ditched behind a house in the 6400 block of Wyandotte. The suspect is now in federal prison awaiting trial.

But that wasn’t the first time Officer Growney tracked down a bank robbery suspect right after the robbery took place. Just 10 months earlier, on May 28, 2008, the Kansas City Fire Department Credit Union at 6320 Manchester was robbed. Callers reported the two armed suspects fled to a nearby apartment complex. Once again, Officer Growney was nearby and immediately started canvassing for suspects. He went to the apartments and saw two men acting suspiciously outside of a storage area. They resembled the physical description of the bank robbers, including black gloves. He took them into custody, and when the FBI arrived on scene, they found the bank’s bait money in the two men’s possession. Both were charged with federal bank robbery, and they also had outstanding felony and city warrants.

Captain Scott Caron said this kind of performance is normal for Officer Growney. He said, “He has the uncanny knack for placing himself in the right place to be near the action.”

Deputy Chief Cy Ritter said Officer Growney has been a consistent performer at the Metro Patrol Division for several years.

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