Recognizing the behind-the-scenes work that helped stop a serial killer

Kansas City Police recently arrested a man who killed two women and was intent on killing more. Investigators allege that Derek Richardson, 27, was a serial killer in the making. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abandonment of a corpse. He already was targeting other potential victims. You can read more about the case in this Kansas City Star article.

You might have seen the Feb. 8 press conference in which we asked for tips in these cases on television, or the one announcing we had identified and arrested the suspect. You probably saw several of the detectives at those events. They did amazing work on this case. But what you did not see were the people who also worked diligently behind the scene to make the arrest happen.

I presented a Chief’s Coin today to one of those people: Jennifer Howard. She is the DNA Technical Leader at our Crime Lab and was instrumental in solving this case. For two months, she made this case a priority. She and other lab staff tested DNA samples as quickly as possible and came in at all kinds of odd hours to do so.

Jennifer discovered that DNA recovered from the second crime scene matched the first, solidly linking the two cases to the same killer. With this discovery, a task force of detectives from our department and Kearney, Mo., (the first victim’s body was dumped in rural Kearney) went to work. As they developed suspects, Jennifer tested to see whether their DNA matched the profile of that recovered at the crime scenes. Detectives developed about 50 suspects, and Jennifer and her team tested 37 DNA samples (she found the others already in CODIS – the national criminal justice DNA database). She worked quickly, as detectives told her the killer could strike again.

A few days after the Feb. 8 press conference, a tip came in leading detectives to Richardson. Jennifer confirmed his DNA sample was a match to the crime scenes.

Sergeant Doug Niemeier, who led the investigative task force, said Jennifer was the go-to person for DNA work. If they got a sample at 10 p.m., she would come in at 10 p.m. and go to work testing it. And that promptness was important.

“If we didn’t find him, we knew he’d do it again,” Niemeier said.

This above-and-beyond work and attitude is why I was pleased to present Jennifer with the Chief’s Coin today as a special token of appreciation.

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Area Command initiative

Last year, I assigned now-retired Deputy Chief Kevin Masters to look at our department’s deployment to determine the best way to combat violent crime. He created a proposal that we modified to best meet the department’s and city’s needs. This resulted in the creation of the Area Command concept. One small group of officers started employing this idea a few weeks ago in the East Patrol Division. The below article in this month’s Informant newsletter explains more about that initial piece and what we hope the future of Area Command will be.


A new initiative will target violent crime in the city’s worst-hit areas with an added boost to speed up prosecution.

Chief Darryl Forté approved an East Patrol Division pilot program called the Area Command Unit (ACU).

“The ACU will attack violent crime while simultaneously building and maintaining positive community relations,” according to a January 14 department memo. “The ACU will rely on real-time data from several sources and will partner with Kansas City No Violence Alliance (KC NoVA) and the Law Enforcement Resource Center (LERC).”

Captain Todd Paulson of the East Patrol Division currently is commanding the EPD evening shift and the Area Command pilot program. He will transfer just to ACU soon.

“The unit will work closely with other units on the department, as well as city and county services such as city codes and Jackson County COMBAT,” Captain Paulson said.

The pilot unit is made up of a sergeant, five officers and a detective.

“It’s nice because we have officers who have come from different areas and with a whole lot of different experiences,” said Officer Bryan Britten of the East Patrol Division.

Having a detective assigned directly to a patrol support element is unique, as well.

“This allows the unit to file its own cases and apply for search warrants and to speed up the prosecution process to make a quicker impact on improving neighborhoods,” Paulson said.

He said the officers will be active in self-initiated activity with a good knowledge of the people involved in violent crime.

“They need to be self-motivated, hard-working and be able to interact with the community in a positive way,” Paulson said.

Unlike regular patrol officers, ACU officers will not focus on calls for service, but will work specific targets within the entire division that are involved in violent crime.

The Area Command pilot program shifts start between 2 and 4 p.m., 7 days a week.

“The units will be able to move and address violent crime issues in other divisions should the need arise,” said Paulson.

ACU has several aims.

“Our main goal is to get as many guns off the streets as we can,” Officer Britten said.

Captain Paulson said ACU also wants to reduce violent crime while partnering with the community to accomplish it.

“By focusing on and prosecuting those directly involved in violent crime, we will be able to interrupt the criminal networks in the city,” he said.

The Area Command pilot program already is proving to be a success. Just in January, they recovered: 11 guns, three stolen vehicles, 19 grams of cocaine, 56 grams of meth, 534 grams of marijuana, 12 ounces of PCP and $3,032 in cash. ACU will grow to encompass the other inner-city patrol divisions.

“The overall unit is already expanding to the Central and Metro Patrol Divisions, hopefully by the end of February, and will consist of a captain, four sergeants, 18 officers and three detectives,” Paulson said. “Each unit will be housed at its respective division station to stay responsive to the needs of each station and to be able to interact and pass on information to the officers in those divisions.”

The Area Command initiative is approved for one year, and at the end of the year, it will be fully evaluated and recommendations will be made at that time to dissolve or expand the unit, according to the Jan. 14 memo.

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Operation Clean Sweep targets criminal networks as part of KC NoVA

PRESS RELEASE:

Kansas City Police conducted a large enforcement effort focusing on individuals who are central components of large-scale criminal networks as part of the first high-visibility operation of the Kansas City No Violence Alliance (KC NoVA.)

Police arrested a total of 17 people, including suspects in multiple homicide investigations. Because investigation is ongoing, police cannot release which cases those are at this time, but they will be working with prosecutors to charge those cases and notify the public of the arrests in coming days. Forty-nine warrants were cleared by the arrests and 15 new charges brought, which could increase as detectives further work cases. Officers also recovered 4.5 grams of cocaine, 224 grams of marijuana and 200 pills.

KC NoVA launched in May 2012 and is a focused effort to deter violent crime. Since its launch, police, prosecutors, Probation and Parole and others have worked to identify those most likely to commit violent crime. They have mapped and analyzed relationships among criminals using intelligence gathered from numerous sources. A KCPD captain, sergeant and four detectives now are assigned full time to KC NoVA.

The network that was the focus of Operation Clean Sweep features about 360 individuals, including homicide suspects, 60+ people on probation or parole, known drug dealers, prostitutes, and juveniles. The Operation was centered on the group’s area of influence in the Old Northeast community of Kansas City.

Operation Clean Sweep is different than previous enforcement initiatives. Those initiatives focused on geographic hot spot areas, whereas this one focused on individuals central to Kansas City’s criminal activity.

KC NoVA is working to arrest and vigorously prosecute those at the center of these criminal networks. Those on the periphery of these networks will be offered services to help prevent them from becoming involved in more serious crime. KC NoVA has hired a master social worker to guide these individuals toward job and life skills training, transportation assistance and more. KC NoVA also will be working with faith-based and community organizations to help steer these individuals away from crime and to rebuild safer neighborhoods.

Researchers with the University of Missouri-Kansas City will evaluate KC NoVA to determine its effectiveness.

Focused deterrence efforts like KC NoVA have reduced violent crime by 30 percent in Cincinnati and Boston. Kansas City had 108 homicides in 2012. KC NoVA’s goal is to reduce that to 80 homicides per annum within two years.

Change of rape definition will increase reports, encompass more victims

The year 2013 will bring a large increase in the number of reported rapes in Kansas City. This is not because more rapes will take place. It’s because the FBI has made a much-needed change to its Uniform Crime Reporting system that changes the definition of what rape is, rightfully encompassing many more victims of sexual assault.

Since 1927, the FBI has defined “forcible rape” as “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.” The U.S. Department of Justice blog called this definition “outdated and narrow,” and we agree. It left no room for male victims or victims of sodomy. Our police department investigated these cases, but they never were included in the official rape statistics.

The new FBI definition of rape is: “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

All crimes that fall under the above definition began being counted as rape in Kansas City and throughout the nation on Jan. 1, 2013. So when this year comes to an end, and we compare its crime statistics to 2012, it likely will appear as though rapes increased drastically. While we can’t predict how many crimes will be committed, I want you to be aware that it is extremely unlikely rapes will double, as the numbers could appear.

Consider what it would look like if we had used the new rape definition in 2012. Through mid-November 2012 (we’re still finalizing more recent stats), Kansas City had 243 rapes according to the old rape definition. But under the new definition, the city had 558. The new definition simply includes all victims of sexual assault, as it should, and gives us a more accurate view of the extent of the crime in Kansas City. This will not change the the thorough manner in which we investigate any of these cases, just the way we report them.

The Justice Department blog also notes some other important changes the new definition creates:

"For the first time ever, the new definition includes any gender of victim and perpetrator, not just women being raped by men. It also recognizes that rape with an object can be as traumatic as penile/vaginal rape. This definition also includes instances in which the victim is unable to give consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

"Furthermore, because many rapes are facilitated by drugs or alcohol, the new definition recognizes that a victim can be incapacitated and thus unable to consent because of ingestion of drugs or alcohol. Similarly, a victim may be legally incapable of consent because of age. The ability of the victim to give consent must be determined in accordance with individual state statutes. Physical resistance is not required on the part of the victim to demonstrate lack of consent."

We want you to be aware of these changes now so panic doesn’t arise this time next year when the numbers look much higher. We are pleased with the inclusivity of the new definition and all those who worked toward changing it, including victim advocates and several organizations of which I’m a member, like the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Major City Chiefs and Police Executive Research Forum. It was high time we recognized all victims of this heinous crime.
  Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

108 homicides in 2012 and looking toward less violence in 2013

Kansas City wrapped up 2012 with a homicide rate that fortunately was less than the year before but pretty in line with the last decade or so. A total of 108 people were killed here last year, compared to 114 in 2011, 106 in 2010, 110 in 2009 and 126 in 2008. Each of those 108 victims represents loved ones who are grieving and communities that are hurting. I wanted to explain a little about who these victims were and what we’re planning to do to stop others from becoming victims of violent crime.

The youngest homicide victim in 2012 was 5-month-old Zavion Dunmore, who died from trauma sustained in child abuse on March 13. Keith L. Nelson, 43, has been charged with second-degree murder in his death. The oldest victim was 62-year-old Donna Pike, killed along with her son and a handyman at their home at 39th and Paseo on Jan. 16 of last year. Anthony W. Walker, 46, has been charged with three counts each of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and burglary in their slayings.

Guns continued to be the city’s leading instruments of homicide, used in 83 percent of 2012’s murders. Anger management also continues to be a major problem, with arguments cited as the motive in 22 slayings. Domestic violence and robberies were the cause of eight killings each, and four we know were drug-related.

Black males comprised two thirds of the City’s victims as well as about 69 percent of known suspects. The age group with the highest number of slayings was 17 to 24. You can see a full summary of 2012 homicides on our web site.

We are doing several things to combat this violence. I have great hope in what the Kansas City No Violence Alliance can accomplish, which I blogged about here last month. This will bring many pieces of the criminal justice system together to target the offenders who are responsible for the majority of Kansas City’s violent crime. KC NoVA has the potential to substantially drop our homicide statistics. Hot spot policing also has become a way we do business. Focusing on these violent crime hot spots is paying off. As I also blogged last month,just 40 percent of the City’s homicides now occur in these neighborhoods, as opposed to the 52 percent that occurred there in 2011. And this year’s overall lower homicide rate would indicate that crime isn’t getting displaced elsewhere.

As always, our greatest crime-fighting tool is you, the residents of Kansas City. Building relationships and trust between the police and the community has been one of my top priorities since I was appointed Chief, and it will continue to be so in 2013.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Celebratory gunfire is dangerous and illegal

PRESS RELEASE:

Shooting a firearm within Kansas City limits is illegal on New Year’s Day and every other day.

Police warn residents not to fire weapons over the holiday. Celebratory gunfire can be deadly. Blair Shanahan-Lane, 11, was killed by a stray bullet on July 4, 2011, outside an east Kansas City home. The shot that killed her was fired into the air some distance away.

Officers will arrest and jail anyone who is caught shooting a firearm into the air. In addition to being deadly, these shots disturb neighborhoods and divert police resources away from other crimes. During the last New Year’s holiday, Kansas City Police received 149 sounds of shots calls from 10 p.m. Dec. 31, 2011, to 5 a.m. Jan. 1, 2012.

“Firing a gun in city limits is against the law 365 days a year, and that includes New Year’s Eve,” Chief Darryl Forté said. “Residents should be able to celebrate the holiday safely and not be in fear of being struck by a stray bullet. Officers will be on the lookout for this illegal gunfire and will arrest perpetrators.”

KC NoVA moving forward, set to make big impact on violent crime in 2013

In May of this year, we and several partner agencies announced the creation of the Kansas City No Violence Alliance – or KC NoVA. Since that time, pieces are falling into place to significantly reduce the City’s violent crime in 2013. Repeat offenders who are all too familiar with the criminal justice system will see harsh legal consequences like never before because the system is going to work differently.

KC NoVA is a focused deterrence model similar to what has worked in other cities like Cincinnati and Boston. (Homicides fell by 47 percent in Cincinnati with this type of program.) It focuses law enforcement resources on the most violent offenders and groups while incorporating various systems of support to help lower-level offenders change their paths. Here in Kansas City, it incorporates municipal and federal law enforcement; local, state and federal prosecutors; Probation and Parole; the City; the juvenile justice system and academic research.

Here at KCPD, I have assigned a captain to oversee the project, as well as a sergeant and two detectives. But the whole department will be participating in gathering intelligence and identifying the worst perpetrators of crime in our city. The KC NoVA team is collocated with prosecutors in the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, and they are working with a research team at the University of Missouri Kansas City to analyze and diagram the city’s criminal networks, targeting the most central figures for swift and certain prosecution.

Those who are on the periphery of those networks and not as heavily involved in violent crime also will be targeted, but for different reasons. They will be offered social services to help them leave crime behind and become productive members of society. They will be assigned case managers who will assist them with things like anger management, life skills, job training, housing and transportation.

Many of these violent crime prevention efforts also begin with offenders re-entering the City after serving time in prison for violent offenses. We are partnering with Probation and Parole like never before. Just last week, a team of KCPD officers met with a man who had been in prison for 26 years and was getting out that day. The officers told him about the resources available to him for successfully re-entering society and let him know they would be checking on him regularly. He is going back to be surrounded by many of the same violent people he was when he committed the crime, but we hope these interventions will help him turn away from those negative influences.

KC NoVA also is working with faith-based communities, family members of those involved in violent crime and neighborhoods to deter violent crime and heal communities.

Deterrence is KC NoVA’s ultimate goal. We hope to achieve this by cracking down very hard on the most violent offenders and giving lower-level offenders the tools they need to get away from a life of crime. I anticipate that you will see a significant reduction in homicides and aggravated assaults in 2013 and the years to come thanks to KC NoVA’s efforts.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Welcome to KCPD, Academy graduates

The 26 men and women of Entrant Officer Class 146 will graduate from the Police Academy tonight. They will hit the streets with their field training officers on Sunday. I administered the oath of office to them yesterday, on 12/12/12. In fact, I ended the oath by declaring them commissioned officers at exactly 12:12:12 (that was a stroke of luck).

Dozens of officers have retired this year, so this class is much needed. Our Academy does an excellent job preparing them for what they will face on the streets of Kansas City. You can see the sample curriculum. They receive extensive training in the law, patrol tactics, criminal investigation, firearms, defensive tactics, driving and more. These 26 men and women have proven themselves by successfully completing all the required training, and I look forward to having them represent KCPD.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Hot spot policing is reducing homicides

Hot spot policing efforts have reduced homicides in Kansas City in 2012. So far, 40 percent of this year’s homicides have taken place in hot spot areas, compared to the 52 percent that took place in those areas on average for the past three years.

This does not mean crime is getting displaced elsewhere. Homicides are down across the board. We are at 101 homicides right now, which is seven fewer than last year, one more than in 2010, five fewer than 2009 and 22 fewer than 2008.

To reduce violent crime, we have to focus our efforts on where the bulk of it occurs. That’s what hot spot policing is all about. Channel 5 gave a great first-hand look at what this looks like with their special report last month.

I thank the officers, detectives, crime scene staff and others who are out solving and preventing these crimes. I also really want to thank the community members who are increasingly coming forward with tips and information. When a neighborhood no longer tolerates crime, it won’t happen there. We’re seeing that happen more and more, and police will continue to work on building the relationships that make safer neighborhoods.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

New South Patrol Division opens to public

PRESS RELEASE:

Residents of south Kansas City now will go to a new location to file reports and conduct other business with police.


This past weekend, the new South Patrol Division at 9701 Marion Park Drive officially opened to the public. Residents should no longer go to the division’s former location at 11109 Hickman Mills Rd.

Police and public officials conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new South Patrol and Special Operations divisions’ campus on Nov. 7. Since then, contractors and computer technicians have put finishing touches on the buildings, and officers moved in throughout last week.

The campus is located near Bannister Road and 71 Highway, behind the Home Depot on Bannister. The entrance to the new South Patrol Division is on the west side of the western building, facing 71 Highway. Public parking is available in the west lot. The phone number to the station remains the same, 816-234-5550. Community group meeting facilities are available at the new location and can be reserved by calling the station.