Kansas City Police have been requested to stay in Joplin for the next three weeks as tornado recovery continues. Tactical response reams and traffic enforcement squads will rotate every five days. Tactical Response Team 2 and a traffic squad are returning today, and Tactical Response Team 1 and another traffic squad will take their place.
KCPD is continuing to provide security through roving patrols and at St. John’s hospital.
The Kansas City Police Department also has been requested to assist with President Barack Obama’s visit to Joplin on Sunday.
And Kansas City's Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 99 is collecting items to distribute to Joplin police officers who lost everything in Sunday's tornado through an "adopt-a-cop" program.
This is our department at its finest - lending a hand when we are needed. Speaking of that, please consider lending a hand to the family of Riverside Public Safety Officer Jeff Taylor. He had gone to Joplin to provide mutual aid just as our officers had, but he was struck by lightning while assisting with rescue operations. He's in critical condition at a Springfield hospital. A fund, the Taylor Benefit Account, has been established for his family and medical expenses at the Kansas City Police Credit Union. You can donate by sending money to the account at Kansas City Police Credit Union, 2800 E. 14th St., Kansas City, MO 64127. For more information, call the Credit Union at 816-504-2800 or toll-free at 800-338-8567.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Officer honored for saving Christmas for family
Officer Fenwick saw the family had very little, and when he asked one of the children what she wanted for Christmas, the girl said, “peace.” The family’s plight weighed on him, so on Christmas Eve, he showed up with three large bags of gifts he’d purchased for everyone in the family. He called two other officers to help him communicate this with the mother, who spoke only Spanish. The translating officers were so touched, they, too, went and bought gifts for the family. The mother was so grateful that she invited all three officers over for Christmas dinner the next day.
As Officer Fenwick's commander, Captain Todd Paulson, put it, “Officer Fenwick’s actions were the reason that this family was able to have Christmas.”
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
Police to conduct driver's license checkpoint Wednesday night
PRESS RELEASE:
South Patrol Division and Traffic Investigation Section officers will conduct a driver’s license checkpoint May 25.
The checkpoint will take place from about 9 p.m. to midnight. Drivers will be briefly detained and asked to present their license. The locations of the checkpoints will be areas known for high numbers of alcohol- and drug-related crashes.
The majority of drivers who have had their licenses suspended or revoked have been convicted of driving under the influence of an intoxicating substance. Drivers who have no license or whose license has been revoked are 4.9 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash, according to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Kansas City Police conducted six driver’s license checkpoints in 2010 and found that about 1 in 20 drivers was on the road illegally.
South Patrol Division and Traffic Investigation Section officers will conduct a driver’s license checkpoint May 25.
The checkpoint will take place from about 9 p.m. to midnight. Drivers will be briefly detained and asked to present their license. The locations of the checkpoints will be areas known for high numbers of alcohol- and drug-related crashes.
The majority of drivers who have had their licenses suspended or revoked have been convicted of driving under the influence of an intoxicating substance. Drivers who have no license or whose license has been revoked are 4.9 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash, according to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Kansas City Police conducted six driver’s license checkpoints in 2010 and found that about 1 in 20 drivers was on the road illegally.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Joplin assistance day 2
Thirty-two KCPD employees continue to provide assistance to tornado-stricken Joplin. One of our Tactical Response Teams and a squad from the Traffice Enforcement Unit are taking turns providing round-the-clock security at the severely damaged St. John's hospital. Once a fence is erected around the site, these officers will be reassigned where they're needed.
Major Robin Houston and her trained canine worked with the Kansas City Fire Department until 3 a.m. last night doing search and rescue. They slept a few hours and then went back at it again this morning.
Other behind-the-scenes work at KCPD has been ongoing to provide financing and equipment to these officers and communications staff in Joplin.
We are scheduled to be in Joplin until at least Thursday. If it extends beyond that time, we'll relieve the officers there now and send new squads in. Those there now got called up at midnight Sunday night and had little time to prepare for the departure from their families. We appreciate their sacrifice.
We also stand ready to assist with security for President Barack Obama's planned visit to Joplin this Sunday, if our help is requested.
Our work in Joplin speaks to the importance of our local, regional and national partnerships. KCPD members are part of law enforcement organizations large and small, and those relationships have allowed us to assist those who need us as quickly as possible, and vice versa. Shortly after Sunday's devastating twister, KCPD's phones started ringing. We are honored to be assisting our southern neighbors through this heart-wrenching time.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
Major Robin Houston and her trained canine worked with the Kansas City Fire Department until 3 a.m. last night doing search and rescue. They slept a few hours and then went back at it again this morning.
Other behind-the-scenes work at KCPD has been ongoing to provide financing and equipment to these officers and communications staff in Joplin.
We are scheduled to be in Joplin until at least Thursday. If it extends beyond that time, we'll relieve the officers there now and send new squads in. Those there now got called up at midnight Sunday night and had little time to prepare for the departure from their families. We appreciate their sacrifice.
We also stand ready to assist with security for President Barack Obama's planned visit to Joplin this Sunday, if our help is requested.
Our work in Joplin speaks to the importance of our local, regional and national partnerships. KCPD members are part of law enforcement organizations large and small, and those relationships have allowed us to assist those who need us as quickly as possible, and vice versa. Shortly after Sunday's devastating twister, KCPD's phones started ringing. We are honored to be assisting our southern neighbors through this heart-wrenching time.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
Monday, May 23, 2011
KCPD assistance to Joplin
Our hearts go out to our southern neighbors in Joplin, Mo., who are coping with such indescribable loss right now after last night's tornado. We are providing assistance as requested and stand ready to offer more.
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department is sending one of our tactical response teams and a traffic enforcement squad to Joplin. They are on the road right now. One of our majors and her trained dog also have headed down there to assist with search and rescue. That’s a total of nearly 30 officers, and when they arrive, they’ll be assigned where need is greatest.
The manager of our 911 Call Center already is in Joplin, helping set up the command post there. He is joined by two of our communication support technicians. In Kansas City, these folks are responsible for all of our radio installation, maintenance and communication (as well as lights and sirens, computers and more), and they’re working in Joplin now to get vital communications up and running.
I’ll provide updates as the effort progresses.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department is sending one of our tactical response teams and a traffic enforcement squad to Joplin. They are on the road right now. One of our majors and her trained dog also have headed down there to assist with search and rescue. That’s a total of nearly 30 officers, and when they arrive, they’ll be assigned where need is greatest.
The manager of our 911 Call Center already is in Joplin, helping set up the command post there. He is joined by two of our communication support technicians. In Kansas City, these folks are responsible for all of our radio installation, maintenance and communication (as well as lights and sirens, computers and more), and they’re working in Joplin now to get vital communications up and running.
I’ll provide updates as the effort progresses.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Meet your new Kansas City Police officers
Last night, I had the honor of swearing in 17 new Kansas City Missouri Police officers at their Police Academy graduation. This is a special group. Once they finish their break-in period with a field training officer in August, they'll hit the streets as part of our new foot patrol program in crime-ridden neighborhoods. Congratulations to these newly-minted KCPD officers.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Beware hacking on video game systems
Our Fraud Unit has investigated several cases in recent days involving video game systems. Users of cloud-based video game systems like X-Box and Play Station 3 have reported that their credit card information is being stolen from these devices. Victims have entered and stored their credit card information on these game systems to purchase games and other items and then found out someone else had hacked in and was using their credit card fraudulently. This has happened to video game users whose game systems are connected to the internet both with a wire line and wirelessly.
This is a nationwide problem (see this article from PC Magazine) and one that will require gamers to practice extra vigilance to protect their information.
To prevent becoming a victim of this technology-based crime, consider the following:
• Don’t tell anyone your user password or identification numbers.
• Do not store your credit or debit card number on the system or in an “account.” If your intentions are to use your credit or debit card number then make the entry for each purchase individually and do not store the number in the system or an account.
• Remain anonymous. Question the need to use your real identity, especially identifying information such as a date of birth or social security number.
• If you feel you have been a victim of a financial crime as a result of any type of “hacking,” or if your personal or financial information has been compromised, notify your financial institutions immediately.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
This is a nationwide problem (see this article from PC Magazine) and one that will require gamers to practice extra vigilance to protect their information.
To prevent becoming a victim of this technology-based crime, consider the following:
• Don’t tell anyone your user password or identification numbers.
• Do not store your credit or debit card number on the system or in an “account.” If your intentions are to use your credit or debit card number then make the entry for each purchase individually and do not store the number in the system or an account.
• Remain anonymous. Question the need to use your real identity, especially identifying information such as a date of birth or social security number.
• If you feel you have been a victim of a financial crime as a result of any type of “hacking,” or if your personal or financial information has been compromised, notify your financial institutions immediately.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
Remembering those who gave all for this city
Today was our annual Police Memorial Service. We had to move it inside because of the rain, but the same sentiment was present: honoring all the officers who have died in the line of duty since this department began in 1874. Below are my remarks from this morning's event:
Thank you all very much for taking the time to come here today and honor the ultimate sacrifice made by 119 members of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. They gave their lives to serving the public, and we should remember their selflessness more than one day a year.
In fact, in some ways we became complacent. Nationwide in 2009, police officer deaths fell to their lowest level in 50 years. We have now been blessed to go a decade without tragically losing a member of the KCPD family. We are well-trained. We have bullet-resistant vests and fast cars and technology. But we are not invincible. The surge of line-of duty deaths in 2010 and into this year proves we cannot fall into a false sense of security.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund recorded a 40 percent increase in line-of-duty deaths last year, with 162 officers killed across the United States. And to date this year, 12 more officers have been killed than in 2010. The majority of this year’s slayings have been from gunfire. National Memorial Fund Chairman Craig W. Floyd was right when he said, “A more brazen, cold-blooded criminal element is on the prowl in America, and they don’t think twice about killing a cop.”
From St. Petersburg, Florida, to Hoonah, Alaska, bold and heartless criminals killed multiple officers who were trying to uphold the law last year. Two police officers in West Memphis, Arkansas, were shot to death during a traffic stop by two anti-government activists. St. Petersburg hadn’t lost an officer in the line of duty for 30 years, but three were killed in 2010. Two died in January when a suspect hiding in the attic of a home shot at them from above. Another lost his life in February when he questioned a 16-year-old about a possible car theft, and the teen shot him four times.
While shootings are the leading cause of death of on-duty officers so far in 2011, traffic fatalities led the causes of death last year. There is a rising trend of officers being killed when they are standing outside of their cars, like a sergeant with the Sevier County, Utah, Sheriff’s Office who was killed on April 29, 2010. He was investigating a crash on an interstate. An SUV lost control on a patch of ice and hit the sergeant, throwing him off a bridge and down 200 feet to his death.
ut for luck and the grace of God, Kansas City Police stayed out of these statistics. On September 26, 2010, a KCPD officer was involved in a foot chase in Midtown when he got hold of a suspect’s shirt just as the suspect jumped into a vehicle. The suspect drove away, dragging the officer down the street. The officer, fortunately, survived with minor injuries.
Just after midnight on Christmas day last year, two officers were dispatched to a simple trespassing call at an apartment complex. They ended up wrestling with a man high on PCP who repeatedly tried to take their service weapons from them and use them against them. The man was unable to do so and was taken into custody.
And on January 24 of this year in the Old Northeast part of the city, officers responded to a hostage situation in which one man was holding another at gun point inside a home. The officers concealed themselves outside, and when the suspect came out the front door, he was holding a gun. The officers told him to put the gun down, but he instead pointed it at them. Officers fired first, injuring the suspect.
Any one of those incidents could have had a different and much more tragic outcome. It is a dangerous time to be a police officer in Kansas City and elsewhere. The men and women of this police department go on the job every day knowing they will encounter criminals who should have been put in jail long ago but are still on the streets with assault weapons and no respect for the law. Our officers know they will walk alongside highways to help a car crash victim when the only thing standing between them and speeding motorists is a line of paint. They know they will be criticized and disrespected. Most of all, they do their duties knowing their names may end up on this monument. This is true selflessness, and it is to be commended and honored.
Those whose names are etched onto the base of this statue knew the risks, too, but chose to stay in this noble and dangerous profession. They valued the safety of this city over their own. For that, we remember and honor them today.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
Thank you all very much for taking the time to come here today and honor the ultimate sacrifice made by 119 members of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. They gave their lives to serving the public, and we should remember their selflessness more than one day a year.
In fact, in some ways we became complacent. Nationwide in 2009, police officer deaths fell to their lowest level in 50 years. We have now been blessed to go a decade without tragically losing a member of the KCPD family. We are well-trained. We have bullet-resistant vests and fast cars and technology. But we are not invincible. The surge of line-of duty deaths in 2010 and into this year proves we cannot fall into a false sense of security.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund recorded a 40 percent increase in line-of-duty deaths last year, with 162 officers killed across the United States. And to date this year, 12 more officers have been killed than in 2010. The majority of this year’s slayings have been from gunfire. National Memorial Fund Chairman Craig W. Floyd was right when he said, “A more brazen, cold-blooded criminal element is on the prowl in America, and they don’t think twice about killing a cop.”
From St. Petersburg, Florida, to Hoonah, Alaska, bold and heartless criminals killed multiple officers who were trying to uphold the law last year. Two police officers in West Memphis, Arkansas, were shot to death during a traffic stop by two anti-government activists. St. Petersburg hadn’t lost an officer in the line of duty for 30 years, but three were killed in 2010. Two died in January when a suspect hiding in the attic of a home shot at them from above. Another lost his life in February when he questioned a 16-year-old about a possible car theft, and the teen shot him four times.
While shootings are the leading cause of death of on-duty officers so far in 2011, traffic fatalities led the causes of death last year. There is a rising trend of officers being killed when they are standing outside of their cars, like a sergeant with the Sevier County, Utah, Sheriff’s Office who was killed on April 29, 2010. He was investigating a crash on an interstate. An SUV lost control on a patch of ice and hit the sergeant, throwing him off a bridge and down 200 feet to his death.
ut for luck and the grace of God, Kansas City Police stayed out of these statistics. On September 26, 2010, a KCPD officer was involved in a foot chase in Midtown when he got hold of a suspect’s shirt just as the suspect jumped into a vehicle. The suspect drove away, dragging the officer down the street. The officer, fortunately, survived with minor injuries.
Just after midnight on Christmas day last year, two officers were dispatched to a simple trespassing call at an apartment complex. They ended up wrestling with a man high on PCP who repeatedly tried to take their service weapons from them and use them against them. The man was unable to do so and was taken into custody.
And on January 24 of this year in the Old Northeast part of the city, officers responded to a hostage situation in which one man was holding another at gun point inside a home. The officers concealed themselves outside, and when the suspect came out the front door, he was holding a gun. The officers told him to put the gun down, but he instead pointed it at them. Officers fired first, injuring the suspect.
Any one of those incidents could have had a different and much more tragic outcome. It is a dangerous time to be a police officer in Kansas City and elsewhere. The men and women of this police department go on the job every day knowing they will encounter criminals who should have been put in jail long ago but are still on the streets with assault weapons and no respect for the law. Our officers know they will walk alongside highways to help a car crash victim when the only thing standing between them and speeding motorists is a line of paint. They know they will be criticized and disrespected. Most of all, they do their duties knowing their names may end up on this monument. This is true selflessness, and it is to be commended and honored.
Those whose names are etched onto the base of this statue knew the risks, too, but chose to stay in this noble and dangerous profession. They valued the safety of this city over their own. For that, we remember and honor them today.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Police Memorial Service set for Thursday
PRESS RELEASE:
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will honor its 119 officers killed in the line of duty throughout the department’s history with a Memorial Service beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 19, in front of Police Headquarters on Locust Street, between 11th and 12th streets.
The service will include an honor guard, a 21-gun salute from the steps of City Hall, the KCPD Color Guard, bagpipers, a flyover by the police helicopter, and a riderless horse representing fallen officers. Dispatcher L.C. Clark will read the names of all KCPD officers killed in the line of duty – the first in 1881 and the last in 2001. There will be 119 flags on display in front of Headquarters representing each one of these officers. For 119 hours preceding the service, dispatchers read one officer’s name per hour over the police radio system. The last officer’s name, Craig Schultz, will be read immediately before the ceremony begins Thursday.
Locust will be closed between 11th and 12th streets from about 7 a.m. to noon for the ceremony. In the event of rain, the ceremony will take place inside the basement of police headquarters, which can be accessed from 12th Street. The public is invited to attend.
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will honor its 119 officers killed in the line of duty throughout the department’s history with a Memorial Service beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 19, in front of Police Headquarters on Locust Street, between 11th and 12th streets.
The service will include an honor guard, a 21-gun salute from the steps of City Hall, the KCPD Color Guard, bagpipers, a flyover by the police helicopter, and a riderless horse representing fallen officers. Dispatcher L.C. Clark will read the names of all KCPD officers killed in the line of duty – the first in 1881 and the last in 2001. There will be 119 flags on display in front of Headquarters representing each one of these officers. For 119 hours preceding the service, dispatchers read one officer’s name per hour over the police radio system. The last officer’s name, Craig Schultz, will be read immediately before the ceremony begins Thursday.
Locust will be closed between 11th and 12th streets from about 7 a.m. to noon for the ceremony. In the event of rain, the ceremony will take place inside the basement of police headquarters, which can be accessed from 12th Street. The public is invited to attend.
My impending retirement
I am announcing today that I will retire as Chief of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department on September 16, 2011. That will be the final day of my 32nd year with the department, and I will leave in compliance with the 32-years-of service mandatory retirement policy. In the mean time, I will work closely with the Board of Police Commissioners to make the transition to new leadership as smooth as possible. Thank you all so much for your support throughout the years, especially the last seven that I have been Chief. Serving alongside the incredible men and women of this police department has been one of my greatest honors.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org
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