With homicides rising in Kansas City, mayor appoints public safety study group
In an effort to reduce the persistent violence problem in Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas on Wednesday announced the appointment of five members to a new Public Safety Study Group.
The group includes elected officeholders and some who have worked in local law enforcement. Formation of the study group was a recent directive from the Kansas City Council.
“You cannot turn your eyes away from the epidemic in Kansas City and the epidemic in our streets, Lucas said in an interview with The Star on Wednesday. “We continue to see our community killed off in many ways and I didn’t think that we could wait any longer.
“This is something that we have to address today. We cannot wait for the COVID state of emergency to be done, we need to get working now,” he said.
The study group consists of:
Former Kansas City Police Chief Jim Corwin
Jared Bustamante, an assistant Jackson County prosecutor
Melesa Johnson, a former assistant Jackson County prosecutor
City Councilwoman Teresa Loar
City Councilwoman Melissa Robinson
It also comes at a time when homicides and shootings have increased throughout the city. Two men were found fatally shot inside a house in the 600 block of Elmwood Avenue late Tuesday.
“It is a little astounding to me that we have not only increased homicides and pretty significantly during a two-month period that city was basically shutdown,” said Lucas. “To have 22 murders during a (pandemic) shutdown is crazy.
“With the economy declining, everything else is declining, we are having all of these other things, yet folks are out shooting each other, they are killing each other.” he said.
The victims from the shootings Tuesday night were the 63rd and 64th homicide victims in Kansas City this year, according to data kept by The Star, which includes police shootings.
There were 49 homicides reported in Kansas City during the same period in 2019.
Since the beginning of 2020, Kansas City has recorded 191 nonfatal shootings. For the first five months last year, there were 151.
The study group will examine the feasibility of local control of the police department, devise ideas to reduce homicides and gun violence and discuss how to build better relations between police and the community.
Lucas has set a Sept. 30 deadline for the study group to present their recommendations to him. Then, Lucas said, he would introduce ordinances to the city council or legislative action to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, of which he is a member.
The group could provide budget recommendations to city staff, examine what other cities are doing to curb violence and possibly suggest staffing changes within the police department. For example, Lucas said the group could propose to shift more officers to investigate homicides and aggravated assaults instead of drug enforcement.
It has not been determined how often, where or when the group would meet. Lucas said that he wants several publicly held meetings.
Federal grant for police
Also on Wednesday, Lucas announced that the Kansas City Police Department has been awarded a $3.6 million grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services as part of the U.S. Attorney General’s Operation Relentless Pursuit effort.
The federal grant will allow the police department to hire 18 additional officers who will work directly with federal prosecutors and other law enforcement to investigate and prosecute suspected gang activity, drug trafficking, and violent crimes.
Since the beginning of 2020, Kansas City has recorded 191 nonfatal shootings. For the first five months last year, there were 151.
Five years ago, Lucas’s predecessor, Sly James formed a citizens anti-violence task force that recommended improved coordination of youth and community services, a full-time city staffer assigned to anti-violence efforts, and enhanced engagement and mentoring from civic and business leaders.
“This may be different from our last task force because they are not wrong in saying that these are long-term problems and they need long-term solutions, that is true,” Lucas said. “And you know what, there are people dying right now and I don’t know if they have time for long-term solutions. This is the sort of work that we need to do.”
Last month, Kansas City police touted a new crime reduction initiative or Risk-Based Policing, that it says realized a 24% drop in crime in some of the city’s most violent neighborhoods over the past year.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 2:56 PM.
