‘The city is failing’: Leaders denounce homicides as KC approaches second deadliest year
With 18 homicides so far this month in Kansas City, local leaders gathered Thursday to bring attention to the alarming violence rate and offer solutions.
The city has suffered 141 homicides in 2022. It is on pace to become the second deadliest year on record, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings.
Over 90% were a result of gun violence, according to the Kansas City Police Department. In cases where the circumstances were known, arguments topped the list as the main factor.
Jaylon Verser, with the Center for Conflict Resolution, said Kansas Citians need to change the way they deal with conflict.
“There are ways in which we can prepare our young people, our adults, to deal with the differences that they experience, especially the differences that cause us to be frustrated,” he said.
“People don’t necessarily come from the same background that we come from, people don’t necessarily have the same stories as us ... and that’s OK.”
Third District City Councilwoman Melissa Robinson said change in the area she represents is simple.
“We want, deserve and need economic mobility for our people and we need economic development for our places,” she said. “We are here because people are living in despair. We are here because the city is failing. We are here because we do not have the resources necessary to build viable, thriving neighborhoods.”
Robinson stressed the need for investment on the East Side.
“We talk about the amazing things that are happening in our city: the NFL draft’s coming, the World Cup is coming. We’re on the world stage for so many great things. But we have to make the East Side a priority and it has to be reflected in the city’s budget.”
Fifty-three of this year’s homicides occurred in neighborhoods in the police department’s east patrol division, the most of any of its six divisions.
Nearly 30% of the homicide victims were 24 years old or younger.
Garrett Webster, executive director of the youth program BAM/WOW, said the organization works with young people who face many challenges that can lead to anxiety and depression.
“What we do from a mental health perspective, is we work with our young people so that they feel seen, they feel heard and that they’re recognized,” he said. “And in being seen, they make healthier decisions and make healthy choices. They take a moment to think, and stop, and take a breath — instead of reacting, picking up a gun, getting into a fight.”
Thirty-seven percent of this year’s cases are considered cleared by the police department. Ad Hoc Group Against Crime executive director Damon Daniel urged anyone with information about unsolved homicides to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
Thursday’s news conference at the YMCA on Linwood Boulevard was organized by leaders with KC Common Good, which is in the process of starting a violence reduction program called KC 360. CEO Klassie Alcine said the initiative will launch next year in the Santa Fe neighborhood.
This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 4:46 PM.
