Panelists discuss trust in police, reducing gun violence in KC in first of 3 programs
The first of three digital programs held by The Kansas City Star and American Public Square at Jewell examined the trust between police and community and the root causes of gun violence.
Thursday’s event, Gun Violence in Missouri: Seeking Solutions, moderated by Star columnist Toriano Porter, aimed to engage community members and develop solutions to address crime.
The four panelists — Chris Goode, founder and owner of Ruby Jean’s Juicery; community activist Barbara Johnson; Maj. Brad Deichler, executive officer for the Kansas City Police Chief’s Office; and Brittany Nieto, program manager of Giffords Law Center’s Community Violence Initiative — addressed factors leading to violence, the impact of gun violence and immediate steps to start fixing the issue.
Kansas City broke its record for homicides last week after two people were killed in separate shootings. A body found Wednesday marked the 159th homicide victim, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings.
The homicide record was previously set in 2017 when 155 people were killed. Before that, the record was set in 1993 with 153 killings.
Gun violence is the subject of a statewide project The Star is undertaking this year, partnering with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by the Missouri Foundation for Health.
Root causes
It starts with a lack of housing, education and employment, Johnson said. Kansas City, she said, is “hyper-segregated.”
“Part of the problem with this particular city as a hyper-segregated city, it was always more akin to the slave patrols,” Johnson said. “It was patrolled as if we were already, everyone, criminals.”
Goode said the system needs to examined.
“I think we can clearly identify that we need to rework the entire system so that Black people aren’t overlooked, they aren’t undervalued, they aren’t oppressed,” Goode said. “The system is broken to its very, very core.”
He also criticized the $43 million youth soccer complex in the Northland approved by City Council earlier this year. Instead, he said, money should invest in Kansas City’s urban core. That should include incentivizing healthy eating in the third and fifth districts, Goode said.
“We have to focus on the kids,” Goode said, “we have to focus on the roots.”
Trust between community, police
Trust between the community and the police department is an essential contribution to public safety, Nieto said. Regular negative interactions between the police and community or high profile incidents of police brutality contribute to that loss of trust, she said.
Deichler said the police department is focused on deescalation. He said they ask officers to slow down and engage in talking before a situation escalates.
“We want our officers to understand to have community trust, we cannot be heavy handed, we cannot overreact, everything is not about arrest and enforcement,” Deichler said.
Goode said addressing root causes of violence is key; trust comes second.
“It’s less about the badge and more about the bridge,” Goode said. “When we focus on what is spilling out today, we forget about the true root of it.”
Solutions
“There are a lot of root causes to violence here in Kansas City and elsewhere and the most impactful strategies for reducing violence address those root causes,” Nieto said.
She said the gun violence in Kansas City is indicative of what’s happening across the United States. Nieto said there are several policy solutions, which include evidence-based, community driven approaches, as well as group violence intervention and focused deterrence.
It’s less expensive, Nieto said, to spend money on programs to address gun violence than to let the $5.5 billion cost of gun violence continue.
Nieto said the state should invest in community-based efforts to combat gun violence and pass stronger gun laws. And any approach to reducing violence needs to work through a trauma-informed lens, she said.
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 and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
