Victim found in fire at motel identified

UPDATE: Lakeshia Ross's death has been ruled a homicide

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At approximately 10:30 a.m. April 10, Kansas City police were called to the Relax Inn Motel at 6300 Blue Parkway to meet the fire department in regard to a dead body. Firefighters told officers they came because of a fire in a motel room, and after entering the room, they found an unresponsive female. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her death is suspicious and it appears the fire was intentionally set. The cause of death is not being released.

The victim has been identified as 34-year-old Lakeshia M. Ross, a black female from Kansas City, Kan. There are no suspects in custody, and anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

The newest Kansas City Police officers

Meet your newest KCPD officers. They had their badges pinned on last night at the Police Academy graduation and swore to uphold local, state and federal laws. These 28 men and women are Kansas City's 140th Entrant Officer Class. They range in age from 22 to 44. There are seven women, 21 men, and 10 are ethnic minorities. Their class was funded as part of the federal COPS Hiring Recovery Program grant we received last year.


These officers now begin their probationary break-in period. They will spend the next eight weeks with a field training officer learning to apply their academy training to real-world policing on the streets of Kansas City. After their first six months, a review board will decide whether they can come off probation to become full-fledged officers.


I look forward to seeing what these new officers can do. One of them could one day have my job.


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Lethality Assessment Program is reducing domestic violence in Kansas City

From our monthly Informant newsletter:

Domestic violence assaults have plummeted by more than a third since Kansas City Police embarked on a unique project to protect victims nine months ago.

“When I look back over the years at community collaborations that resulted in such a big systems change in how we go about responding to victims of domestic violence, this is huge – one of the biggest,” said Lisa Fleming, Chief Operating Officer of Rosebrooks Center, a domestic violence shelter and service agency.

The Lethality Assessment Protocol requires officers responding to domestic violence-related incidents to ask victims 12 questions based on academic research to determine how likely it is for a victim to be killed by an abuser. If the victim’s answers indicate he or she might be in great danger, officers do everything they can to get the victim in touch with a domestic violence victim advocate for safety planning and arranging to get the victim out of the situation. They use cell phones to contact domestic violence advocates at the scene of the crime to get them in touch with victims.

KCPD was one of just five police departments in the nation to get a grant to try the project. The grant lasted for five months, but the Lethality Assessment will go much longer than that.

“We’ve decided to continue it as the way our department does business,” said Captain Mark Folsom of the Special Victims Unit.

Total domestic violence assaults in Kansas City fell from 371 in July 2009 to 240 in February 2010. Capt. Folsom said it’s a trend that’s bucking nationwide trends of rising domestic violence cases. 

Although the numbers are dropping, Fleming said Rosebrooks’ beds have never been fuller. She said a big reason for that is the Lethality Assessment program, which is bringing in people who never before would have sought help.

“The risk of re-assault is reduced by 60 percent when a victim walks through the doors of a domestic violence program,” Fleming said. “This has been such a successful intervention for making that happen.”

 

Though it’s more work for officers responding to these calls, they think it’s a good thing, said Sergeant Bernadette Bond, who helped implement the Lethality Assessment in the South Patrol Division. She said in the past, it was frustrating to show up to a domestic violence incident, take a report and leave without really being able to help the victim.

“We didn’t give them an option – there was no follow-up,” Sergeant Bond said. “At least this way there’s someone who cares, who follows up with them. They have an option.”

Sergeant Bond said she knew the program would be a good thing when one of her most gruff and veteran officers told her after training that it “was something we should’ve done a long time ago.”

“I knew then that we were on the right track,” Sergeant Bond said. “We need to be doing everything we can to empower victims.”

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Response to lawsuit verdict

Our official response to the verdict in the Danny Holmes lawsuit is as follows:


"The Board and the department will be consulting with its attorneys to determine what the next step for the department will be in this case. Among the issues to discuss will be appealing the verdict."

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Woman killed at 31st & Agnes on Tuesday identified

At 6:26 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, police were called to a residence in the 3000 block of East 31st Street on the report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located a shooting victim inside the residence with no signs of life. She was pronounced dead at the scene and has been identified as 25-year-old Toni L. Payne of Kansas City, Mo.  


Witnesses said that immediately after the shooting, a black male fled the scene in a gray, 4-door sedan. There are no suspects in custody and anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).


Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org 

Victim of Sunday homicide at 7th & Monroe identified

On Sunday, April 4, at 7:18 p.m., police were called to the 700 block of Monroe in regard to a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located a shooting victim with life-threatening injuries. He was transported to a local hospital where he died a short time later. He has been identified as 29-year-old Martinous Woods of Kansas City, Mo. Witnesses say the victim was involved in a rolling gun battle with the occupants of another vehicle near 6th and Monroe. The victim stopped his vehicle in the 700 block of Monroe and collapsed while attempting to run on foot. The suspects, two black males, fled east on 7th Street in an unknown vehicle. Due to conflicting statements by witnesses there is no suspect vehicle description available at this time. Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816.474.8477.

Agenda for Thursday's Board of Police Commissioners meeting

The Board's Audit Committee will meet first at 8 a.m. Here's the agenda for that meeting. Below is the agenda for the Business Meeting:

Board of Police Commissioners
Business Session Meeting
Agenda–Thursday, April 8, 2010


9:00 a.m. – 6th Floor Board Room

1. Scheduled Meetings:

Board Meetings:

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
9:00 a.m., 6th Floor, Board Room

Audit Committee Meeting:

Thursday, April 8, 2010
8:00 a.m., 6th Floor, Board Room

2. Approval of Minutes.
a. March 11, 2010 Business Session.

3. Mr. Gary White, City Auditor.
a. General Discussion.

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

5. Chief James Corwin.
a. Public Safety Sales Tax Renewal.
b. FY 2010-11 Budget Update.
c. General Discussion.

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

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

8. Deputy Chief Rachel Whipple – Administration Bureau.
a. KCMO/BOPC/REJIS Collaboration Update.
b. General Discussion.

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

10. Deputy Chief Darryl Forte - Executive Services Bureau.
a. Acceptance of the Kansas City Metropolitan Enforcement Response Task Force Cooperative Award.
b. Storage Area Network (SAN) Request.
c. Phase One: Tiburon CAD/RMS Hardware/Software Replacement.
d. New 2010 Model Year Ford Police Interceptor Vehicles.
e. Adjustments to Special Revenue Accounts for Fiscal Year 2009-10.
f. Budget Transfers for Fiscal Year 2009-10.
g. South Patrol/SOD CIMO Fees, March 2009-April 2010.
h. Metro Patrol Division CIMO Fees, FY 2008-09 and FY 2009-10.
i. Stream Mitigation Credits, South Patrol/Special Operations.
j. General Discussion.

11. Director Rick Brisbin – Professional Development and Research Bureau.
a. Benedictine Partnership – Regional Academy.
b. General Discussion.

12. Ms. Lisa S. Morris – Office of General Counsel.

13. Future Business Meeting Agenda Items.

14. Ms. Mischa Buford Epps.

15. Chief James Corwin.

16. Mayor Mark Funkhouser.

17. Commissioner Alvin Brooks.

18. Commissioner Patrick McInerney.

19. Commissioner Karl Zobrist.

20. Commissioner Mark C. Thompson

21. Informational Items:
a. Six month Comparison of Crashes at Red Light Camera Intersection.
22. Motion to go into Closed Session.

Suspicious package at Federal Courthouse

UPDATE: A little after 11 a.m. today, Bomb and Arson personnel determined the package contains no explosives.

FROM THE FBI: A Deputy U.S. Marshal found the soft-sided, mesh, blue cooler outside the Courthouse's east garage door at about 8:25 a.m. A tag on the package indicated it would explode. The courthouse and several adjacent buildings were evacuated. An anonymous call was received at the Courthouse at 10 a.m. warning of additional explosive devices in the Courthouse. The interior of the building has been searched and cleared. The FBI has taken over the investigation, which is continuing.
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Officers were called today at 8:44 a.m. to the Federal Courthouse located at 9th and Locust to investigate a suspicious package. The package, a soft-side cooler, was located near a garage door on the east side of the building. The cooler had a note indicating the contents of the cooler would explode. The Federal Courthouse was evacuated as a precaution, and the KCPD Bomb and Arson detectives were called in to examine the package. The bomb robot is going to evaluate the package before a determination is made on how to proceed.

An extensive perimeter around the Courthouse has been established prohibiting pedestrian and vehicle traffic around the building. It is unknown how long it will take for the investigation, and roads will remain closed until the investigation concludes.

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Charges filed in violent 2006 rape

Our Cold Case Sex Crimes Squad has arrested a man whose composite sketch was on a billboard three and a half years ago. The suspect's mug shot and the sketch from 2006 are above.

From the Platte County Prosecutor's Office:

A Kansas City man has been charged with a 2006 rape, after being indentified by a cold case DNA match. The case against Zachary L. Townsend, 39, is the first charge filed outside Jackson County as part of the Kansas City Police Department’s cold case program.

Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said, “This crime, where a woman awakens to a stranger in her apartment who rapes her, is one of the most frightening offenses imaginable. While rare, such crimes are often very difficult to solve. Fortunately, the tenacity of Kansas City police officers combined with DNA technology led to these charges today.”

According to court documents, on December 21, 2006, a woman awoke sometime after 11:00 p.m. to a stranger standing in the doorway of her apartment bedroom in the Crossings apartment complex, located at 7867 NW Roanridge Road in Kansas City.

The stranger then allegedly took the woman to her car, where he raped and sodomized her. He later allegedly forced her to return to her apartment, where he repeatedly raped and sodomized her over a period of several hours.

At one point during the encounter, the woman screamed. The stranger allegedly grabbed the woman by the neck, choked her, and threatened to kill her.

The stranger fled the next morning. The woman immediately went to a hospital, where medical personnel completed a sexual assault examination. The woman had numerous bruises to her body.

The case generated substantial attention at the time, including the posting of a composite sketch of the suspect on a billboard along I-29. That billboard, funded by Crime Stoppers and Lamar Advertising, was the first billboard of an unknown suspect posted in the Kansas City area.

Court documents indicate that DNA recovered during the sexual assault examination allegedly matches Townsend.

Captain Mark Folsom of the Special Victims Unit of the Kansas City Police Department credited the hard work of detectives and the continuing success of the cold case unit for the charges filed against Townsend.

“Detectives worked more than 100 tips during this case, and the lead detective, Catherine Johnson, never gave up on finding a suspect,” Folsom said. “This case is the 47th case filed as part of our cold case program, and the first such case outside Jackson County.”

To date, Kansas City’s Sex Crimes Cold Case Squad has reviewed more than 1400 cases. In addition to the 47 cases filed, 71 additional cases have been cleared, and multiple other cases are currently being investigated. The squad is funded by a $500,000 grant, which has been renewed once.

Townsend is charged with forcible rape and forcible sodomy. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Townsend is currently being held on an unrelated charge from Clay County. Bond in this case has been set at $500,000 cash.

The charges against Townsend are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Don't leave valuable items in your car

We have said it many times, but it needs to be said again: do not leave items of value in your vehicle. I listened to commanders from the North Patrol Division yesterday describe how they're continuing to have problems with thefts of GPS units and purses from cars, and it's not just happening in North Patrol. It's everywhere.

People tend to mount a GPS on their car dash and forget about it. Don't. Take it inside with you, especially when you get home at night. Ditto with purses. The North Patrol crime analyst said many have been taken out of cars from residents' own driveways in the middle of the night by thieves who break out cars' windows. They then use the credit cards in the purses right away because they know the card will be deactivated as soon as the victim wakes up and discovers what happened. We've also seen this happen in purses stolen from shopping centers and gyms. Thieves use the credit cards they steal while victims are still shopping or working out. Victims then return to their cars only to find a busted window and stolen valuables.

Please don't be a victim. Do not leave items of value in your vehicle, and you'll be doing a lot to protect yourself and your money.

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