City Council honors Westside officers

The Kansas City Council passed a resolution today honoring KCPD Officers Matt Tomasic and Octavio "Chato" Villalobos. Both of these officers work out of the Westside Community Action Network Center and are the absolute picture of community policing. They recently presented at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference and received a lot of praise there.

Part of the resolution honoring Officers Tomasic and Villalobos states:

WHEREAS, the Westside Community Action Network (Westside CAN Center), a pioneer in community policing, has set the gold standard for innovative and effective crime prevention; and

WHEREAS, the Westside CAN Center, with a vision that sees all people as human beings without regard to country of origin, status or income, in its first year of operation, reduced calls for service on the City's Westside by 57 percent; and

WHEREAS, much of the Westside CAN’s success is due to the dedication of its police officers in building a trust in the diverse Westside community through such programs as the Urban Camp-out, Back to School Pep Rally and school supply drive, graffiti abatement, a Day Labor Center, and weekly visits to neighborhood schools.

Four years ago, I wrote an article in Police Chief Magazine about the formation of a Day Labor Center on the Westside that solved a host of community problems. Officers Tomasic and Villalobos along with Westside CAN Director Lynda Callon were the driving force behind that initiative.

The officers received a standing ovation at City Hall today. Many Westside merchants, school staff and neighbors came to support them, and it was great to see the relationship they've built together. Congratulations, Officers.

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KCPD’s LAP program is getting more domestic violence victims to safety

PRESS RELEASE:

KCPD’s efforts to get the most endangered victims of domestic violence to safety are having an impact.

While rates of domestic violence have shot up in cities around the country in the poor economy, Kansas City’s domestic violence homicides have dropped by 25 percent, and domestic violence aggravated assaults have fallen 7 percent in a one-year period (June 2008 to May 2009 compared to June 2009 to May 2010).

Kansas City Missouri Police implemented the Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP) in June 2009 and has seen numbers tumble since then. LAP requires officers responding to domestic violence calls to administer an 11-question survey to the victim that predicts how likely she or he is to be killed by her or his intimate partner. The victim’s answers can trigger officers to immediately call a domestic violence victim advocate to arrange for safety planning for the victim. Kansas City was one of five cities in the nation to pilot the program and is the largest law enforcement agency to have permanently implemented it.

KCPD has partnered with Rosebrooks Center and Synergy Services on the project. Since KCPD started LAP, the shelters are housing an average of 16 more women daily and are taking 19.3 percent more hotline calls.

“Simply put, these are victims the agencies may never have been able to reach and help,” said Captain Mark Folsom, Commander of the Special Victims Unit.

From June 2009 to May 2010, officers screened a total of 2,010 domestic violence victims. Nearly 69 percent of them screened as “high danger,” and more than 57 percent of the total screened spoke to a domestic violence counselor on the phone. One out of five victims that police screened for LAP continued working with a counselor and receiving services.

Captain Folsom said LAP has been a holistic approach to overcoming domestic violence.

“KCPD has always done a great job with the law enforcement side,” he said. “We hold the suspects accountable and provide justice for the victim. Working with the advocacy side has allowed us to help the victims. Women who may not have realized the danger they were in, simply did not know who to call, or may have just needed some encouragement to take that step, have been able to get help in their situation.”

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Man shot Dec. 3 dies

At about 2:19 a.m. Friday, Dec. 3, officers were dispatched to a local hospital on a report that a man had been shot. Apparently two men were driving in the area of Cleaver II Boulevard and Elmwood when they got caught in the middle of two other vehicles shooting at each other. One of the men in the middle car, 20-year-old Marion Denmon, was struck and transported to the hospital. He died of his injuries a little after noon four days later on Tuesday, Dec. 7.

Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS or the KCPD Homicide Unit at 813-234-5043.

New license plate tabs should help prevent theft

The Missouri Department of Revenue recently announced an innovation in license plate tabs that aims to reduce tab theft, a very common crime in Kansas City. These “enhanced security tabs”  display a vehicle’s unique license plate number directly on the tab itself, thereby enabling police to quickly and easily detect whether the tab on the vehicle matches the license plate, according to the Department of Revenue.

In addition to printing the unique license plate number directly on the tab(s) in a large, easy-to-read font, the tamper-evident tab with stretch-release adhesive makes the tabs more difficult to counterfeit.

Several steps have been taken in recent years to make license plate tabs more difficult to steal in Missouri. The tabs were moved to the center of the plates so thieves could not simply cut them off the corners. They also were segmented so they would come apart if someone tried to remove them. This latest innovation will help officers immediately spot a stolen tab. Check out the Department of Revenue's web site for more information about the enhanced security tabs.

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Man charged in wreck that seriously injured officer

Two KCPD officers were struck at 4 p.m. yesterday in their patrol car at 35th and Euclid. They were hit by a black BMW driven by 30-year-old Frank J. Ross III (pictured above). Ross is alleged to have disregarded a stop sign and T-boned the police vehicle. The patrol car driver received minor injuries and was treated and released. The officer in the passenger seat received serious injuries - including multiple broken bones – and remains hospitalized. Firefighters had to extricate him from the patrol car.

Ross has been charged in Jackson County Court with two counts of assault in the second degree – operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.185 - more than two times the legal limit. The suspect and his two passengers said they were leaving a Chief's game.

It was ironic that this incident should happen on the eve of our You Drink, You Drive, You Lose week, which runs from today until Dec. 12. During this week, we're dedicating extra enforcement efforts to stopping impaired drivers. This shows many people truly do lose when you drink and drive. My thoughts and prayers are with this officer for a speedy recovery.


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Secret Santa is at it again

Secret Santa is up to his old ways in Kansas City, handing out cash to those who most need it. KCPD officers had the privilege last week of escorting Santa on some of his annual rounds. Santa distributed thousands of dollars to unsuspecting individuals at thrift stores, at the bus stop and other locations. This Secret Santa, who travelled in disguise, carries on the tradition begun by Larry Stewart, who passed away three years ago. Santa and his elves have encouraged Secret Santas in other cities to pass on their generosity, too.

Kansas City's Secret Santa had a special guest this year:, comedian Larry the Cable Guy. He came along as part of a new show called "Only in America" that will begin on the History Channel on Feb. 9, 2011.

KCPD officers got to spread some of Secret Santa's good cheer to one of their own, too. Secret Santa left Major Anthony Ell of the East Patrol Division a $100 bill to pass on to Building Operations Tech Pat Stobbe, who has worked at EPD for 11 years and has been with the department for 12. Major Ell presented Pat with the gift this morning.

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Victims of double homicide identified

Elijah Nelson

Just after midnight on Dec. 4, officers were dispatched to 36th and Woodland on a reported shooting. When police arrived, they found four men shot inside a parked car. One man was pronounced dead at the scene, and another died at the hospital. The other two were transported to the hospital in stable condition. The victims have been identified as 22-year-old Elijah J. Nelson (pictured) and 19-year-old Damen D. Washington (no photo available), both of Kansas City, Mo.

A possible suspect vehicle has been described as a black, newer model Chevy Monte Carlo or Impala with tinted windows. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

Illegal Firearms Squad helps stop illegal gun trafficker

Our Illegal Firearms Squad formed last year with the purpose of prosecuting those who deal guns illegally. They work closely with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips recently announced that the suspect in one of their cases was just sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in federal prison.

Montell F. Ross, 28, illegally sold guns to Kansas City-area felons/gang members, several of which were used in shootings. Here's an excerpt from the U.S. Attorney's press release:

"On May 17, 2010, Ross pleaded guilty to firearms trafficking. Ross admitted that, from May 2007 to June 2008, he illegally purchased firearms in Oklahoma and brought them to Missouri to sell. Ross kept his Oklahoma driver’s license after moving to Missouri so that he could falsely claim to be a resident of Oklahoma when he purchased the firearms. Ross then sold the firearms to people who could not lawfully obtain firearms.

An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined in April 2009 that six firearms purchased by Ross were recovered a short time later by law enforcement officials during criminal investigations. For example, according to court documents, a .45-caliber pistol purchased by Ross was recovered in the possession of an Oklahoma man who has been convicted of robbery with a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Several firearms purchased by Ross were recovered in the possession of individuals who were involved in shootings.

Ross admitted that at least two of the illegally purchased firearms were sold to a juvenile who had been shot at least three times. This person was a member of a Kansas City gang, according to court records, and had numerous involvements with the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department."

This is the kind of work that makes Kansas City safer. Stopping the source of weapons for felons and/or gang members is a key component to stopping criminal activity.

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Officers work with city to shut down dangerous illegal clubs

On Tuesday, we honored a group of officers, fire inspectors and a city prosecutor for their work to shut down two dangerous and illegal after-hours clubs on 59th Street. As Police Board Vice President Alvin Brooks said, these clubs were a blight on the neighborhoods and haven for some of the city's very worst criminals. Here's what the group did:

A group of KCPD officers and city employees not only shut down two illegal after-hours clubs, they set up guidelines to stop such clubs in the future.

In July 2009, Metro Patrol officers on the over-night shift noticed a lot of traffic at 59th and Troost when no businesses were supposed to be open. They soon discovered it was an illegal club. It disturbed neighbors and brought a lot of crime to the area. Officers were unable to contact the proprietor, and the club’s bouncers locked the doors every time police tried to approach the building.

Metro Patrol officers began meticulously documenting all the problems associated with the club and established a timeline of every encounter they had there and listed every arrest that was made related to the club. Two other officers worked with neighborhood groups and COMBAT to get the club shut down. Detective Robert Gibbs of the Vice Unit took on the case and said police had difficulty prosecuting these types of cases in the past. Officers finally tracked down the owner of the building and told him about the illegal alcohol sales, prostitution and underage girls stripping going on inside his building. The owner agreed to evict the leaser. Officers gave all the information collected to Detective Gibbs, who thought he could build a prosecutable case with it.

The club shut down after the eviction on December 17, 2009, but police knew the operator was making too much money to stop. Sure enough, officers found another illegal club operating at 59th and Prospect on December 31, 2009. Officers saw the car of the previous club’s owner parked in front. From January to May 2010, officers were called to the club nearly every night.

Detective Gibbs began negotiating with state prosecutors, and they said the information officers had collected was just what they needed to establish guidelines for prosecuting clubs like this in the future. Meanwhile, police called out Fire Investigators John Hastings and Tom Kievlan on a few occasions. They once found 200 people inside a building that was meant to hold no more than 49. Officers worked with nearby businesses to rope off their parking lots so there would be no parking for the club. The fire investigators were instrumental in getting a cease-and-desist order on the club, and on May 8, 2010, police served a search warrant on the club and shut it down for good. City Prosecutor Beth Murano helped guide police through the prosecution of one of the club’s key players.

Through Detective Gibbs’ work, state prosecutors now have guidelines to stop illegal businesses like this in the future.

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Body found by resident on walk identified as city's 95th homicide victim

At about 8 a.m. Monday, Nov. 29, a person on a walk about 8 a.m. discovered a body in a grassy area near 44th and Myrtle. The body has been identified as that of 29-year-old Ivan J. Miller of Kansas City, Mo. Police have ruled his death a homicide and have no leads in the case. Please call 816-474-TIPS if you have any information. This is the city's 95th homicide of 2010, compared to 105 homicides at this time last year.