Officer honored for saving woman trapped in car

I presented a Certificate of Commendation today to Officer Brian Wilkerson. He did a very brave thing, and here's his story:

Officer Brian Wilkerson wasn’t even on duty when he risked his own life to save a woman hurt in a bad car wreck.

Just before 3 a.m. Nov. 25, 2010, Officer Wilkerson was on his way home from his shift when he saw a car turned over on its side at 31^st and Michigan. He stopped and heard a woman inside screaming for help. He saw fuel leaking onto the ground and pooling by the driver’s side door and was concerned that it could ignite at any moment. He also saw the driver trapped inside the vehicle. Officer Wilkerson climbed onto the car and broke out the passenger window to get inside. He climbed through the vehicle and pulled the woman out of the car. He then helped her get a good distance away from the car in case it caught fire. He had her lie down and started precautionary medical procedures while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. The woman recovered from her injuries.

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Friday Night at the Greenhouse supports KCPD Mounted Patrol

PRESS RELEASE:

Make your lawn or garden beautiful while supporting the officers and horses of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department’s Mounted Patrol Section.

Suburban Lawn and Garden at 4 W. 135th St. in Kansas City, Mo., will host Friday Night at the Greenhouse, a fund-raiser for the Friends of the Mounted Patrol, from 5 to 8 p.m. April. The business has generously agreed to donate 10 percent of all purchases made during this time to the Mounted Patrol. All are invited to attend.

Not only will this let you take advantage of the best time of year to purchase flowers, trees, perennials and more to enhance your home or business, you also can enjoy live music, beverages, light hors d’oeuvres and meet the Mounted Patrol officers and their horses.

KCPD’s Mounted Patrol Section was re-established in 2006 and is housed in City stables at Swope Park. All horses are donated and must pass rigorous testing to serve as police horses. Although Mounted Patrol is a budgeted unit of the police department, unexpected expenses do come up. The Friends of the Kansas City Missouri Mounted Patrol is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that raises funds for equipment and unexpected needs for these officers and their equine partners. Some of these needs include horses and their training, equipment, officer training, facility updates and unexpected medical expenses for the horses. For more information, go to www.kcmountedpatrol.org.  

Woman killed north of the River identified

At about 12:21 a.m. today, April 26, officers were dispatched to the 10300 block of North Tracy on a suspicious person who had apparently called a relative saying he had just killed his girlfriend. Officers found the woman inside the home deceased. She has been identified as 40-year-old Julie A. Johnson of Kansas City, Mo.

Officers located the suspect nearby and took him into custody.

Residents asked to bring old prescription drugs to take-back events Saturday

PRESS RELEASE:

In an effort to combat prescription drug abuse, the Kansas City Missouri Police Department and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will be part of the nation-wide Prescription Drug Take Back event Saturday.

At these events, residents can clean out their medicine cabinets and bring in old and unwanted prescription drugs for safe disposal. The Prescription Take Backs will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at the following Kansas City locations:

* 215 N.E. Englewood (Hy-Vee parking lot)
* 3215 Main St. (MainCor parking lot)
* 633 E. 63rd St. (National Council on Alcoholism parking lot)
* 5301 E. 27th St. (East Patrol Division Station parking lot)
* 9430 Blue Ridge Blvd. (Northwest corner of Walgreen’s Parking lot)

Partnering with the DEA, Kansas City Police will be on hand to collect prescription and over-the-counter pills, liquids, or other controlled substances in a safe, legal manner. The public can turn in the drugs anonymously and with no questions asked.

More than 7 million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health. And the Partnership for a Drug Free America reports that 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time every day. Most of those drugs come from the medicine cabinet of family or friends. The Prescription Drug Take Back reduces the chance of that happening to a young person you may know. The Take Back also keeps prescription drugs from contaminating water sources.

Police complaint forms can now be filed online

PRESS RELEASE:

Members of the public who feel they have experienced possible police abuse or misconduct now can file a complaint with the Office of Community Complaints (OCC) online.

The online form can be accessed at this link. Complainants can download the form, fill it out, and e-mail it as an attachment to communitycomplaints@kcpd.org. An OCC analyst will then be in contact. Complaints cannot be submitted anonymously but do not have to be notarized for online submittal.

Previously, the only way to submit a complaint was in person at a police station or a few other neighborhood locations. The Board of Police Commissioners wanted a more convenient way for the public to be able report possible concerns about Kansas City Police.

About the Office of Community Complaints:
Under the authority of the Board of Police Commissioners, the Office of Community Complaints is a non-police, civilian oversight agency. The OCC has been charged with the responsibility of protecting the citizen from the possibility of abuse or misconduct on the part of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. The Office also is entrusted with the duty to protect members of the police department from unjust and unfair accusations. The Office of Community Complaints is committed to effectively and impartially resolving all complaints involving a citizen’s guaranteed right to fair and efficient police protection.

Homicide victim found in burning car identified

At about 11:09 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, officers were called to the 5400 block of Wabash on an injury accident involving a car that had crashed into the fence. Officers found the car on fire with a man inside. Police pulled the man out of the vehicle and saw he had what appeared to be a gunshot wound. He was immediately transported to a local hospital, where he died a short time later. The victim has been identifed as 38-year-old Robert Howard Jr. of Kansas City, Mo. Anyone with information should call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

Police looking for person of interest in 75-year-old's murder

Kansas City Police are looking for a person of interest in the Oct. 29, 2010, murder of 75-year-old Nina Whitney. Ms. Whitney was killed in a home in the 11800 block of Belmont. A witness saw the man in the above composite sketch in the 11800 block of Belmont on the day of the homicide and said he did not live in the neighborhood.

The man is described as a white male, 45 to 60 years old, who was about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed about 200 pounds. He may have walked with a slight limp. He was seen getting into a newer-model black Jeep, possibly a Jeep Patriot or Liberty.

If you have any information about the person of interest or the case, please call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

Please note: A composite is not a portrait of one person, but a grouping of characteristics to put people into a category that narrows the search and eliminates other groups. It is intended to place the focus on a smaller grouping of individuals.

An interesting day at CSTAR

Today was an interesting CSTAR (Comprehensive Strategic Team Accountability Review) meeting. All of the department’s commanders gather weekly to go over crime statistics and special problems and projects in each division and discuss solutions. The East Patrol and Special Operations divisions were up today, and we learned a lot.

Two visitors from the Urban Farming Guys came to tell us about how they moved from the suburbs into Kansas City’s urban core to raise their families there, improve the neighborhood and start an urban agriculture movement. Mayor-elect Sly James also visited today’s meeting and told us an illegal and dangerous party house that we’re trying to shut down is right next door to where he grew up.

Detectives reported that an arrest had been made in a series of Craigslist robberies. Multiple victims showed up to buy or sell something they saw on Craigslist and ended up getting robbed. (Our best advice on this continues to be to conduct transactions with someone you connected to online at a police station.) Detectives also said a good portion of East Patrol’s burglaries and arson fires took place at vacant homes, many of which had absentee landlords, making them difficult to prosecute. We even heard about a search for drugs in an East Patrol home in which officers found three alligators, a macaw parrot and a 12-foot python.

The Special Operations Division also reported that KCPD’s Commercial Vehicle Inspection Section received a national award for reducing commercial vehicle-involved fatalities on interstates from 2007 to 2010. Kudos to that hard-working group.

Finally, we got an update on Operation Constant Gardener, a multi-agency effort to target marijuana-growing operations today, on “4/20,” which is something of a holiday in the drug culture.

CSTAR does a great job of keeping KCPD accountable and keeping all elements informed about what’s going on elsewhere in the department. I encourage you to check out our CSTAR unit’s web page to learn about how they help us make the city safer.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Police to combat "420" DUIs

PRESS RELEASE:

Once again, Kansas City Police will be out in force to combat those driving under the influence on a day known as a holiday in the drug culture.

April 20, or 4/20, is a day of widespread marijuana use, which Sergeant Daniel Graves of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department said can mean danger on the road.

“People need to recognize that a DUI is not just from alcohol,” he said. “Driving high is just as deadly.”

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will saturate the roadways April 20 to enforce traffic laws with a specific eye out for those who may be using marijuana. The officers will pay special attention to areas around schools, parks and locations known for drug use.

Sergeant Graves said he wants to continue to use this day to educate parents about the meaning of “420” and the culture surrounding it, as has been done in the past few years.

“It’s in all kinds of rap, hip hop and rock songs your kids may be listening to,” he said. “We’re finding that many parents don’t realize this code.”

The common story of how 420 came to represent the cannabis culture is that of high schoolers in San Rafael, Calif., who met after school in 1971 to smoke weed at 4:20 p.m. because that’s when detention let out. Marijuana enthusiasts extended that to 4/20, or April 20.

Once again this year, 4/20 will mean heightened police presence on Kansas City-area roads and near schools.

“We will not let up on making our streets safer for everyone,” Sergeant Graves said.

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KCPD emphasizes employee health and wellness

At the Kansas City Police Department, we put a lot of emphasis on the health and wellness of our employees – law enforcement and civilian alike. Good health not only makes everyone more fit for duty but also increases productivity, reduces sick leave usage and decreases insurance costs.

We implemented a wellness program, Shield of Health, in spring 2010 with health fairs around the department. Almost half of the department’s 2,000 members participated and had screenings for height/weight/body fat measurements, a finger stick for blood sugars and cholesterol, and a blood pressure check.

Today, 93 department members are doing their post screenings for the “A Slimmer You” program. Some participants lost more than 25 pounds participating in this 10-week program. Our second annual Walk at Lunch Day will be April 27, and last year we sponsored two 50/100/150-mile challenges, asking our employees log this many miles over a period of weeks. A team of five KCPD members even competed in Ingram’s Fittest Companies Challenge and won the award for one of the most  “Most Improved Teams.” 

Nearly every KCPD station and building has a workout room, much of it with new equipment purchased through the wellness program. Webinars and lunch-and-learns have taught our department members about everything from workstation ergonomics to nutrition optimization. A wellness committee composed of department members plans these events and has several more in store in upcoming months, including another health fair, a kickball league and walking program.

Many department members also participate in CrossFit, an intensive physical fitness and nutrition program. You can even see our daily workouts on our web site. Also, our aerobics program offers department members days off for running or speed-walking a certain distance or completing an obstacle course in a certain time period (times vary by age).

We do all of these things to serve the public in the best way possible. Fit officers can better catch up with bad guys. Lower health insurance premiums save taxpayer dollars. And we do this because we care about our employees and want them to feel as good as they possibly can.



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