Violent crime still causing more deaths in KC than coronavirus. How is that possible?

Sorry if this news is starting to sound overly familiar, but statistically speaking, Kansas City remains one of the nation’s most dangerous places to live.

Even in the midst of a global pandemic, Kansas City is on pace for its deadliest year ever.

Other cities around the country have seen a drop in violent crime during the coronavirus outbreak. But violence has continued unabated in our city.

Kansas City averaged nearly 13 homicides per month from January through the middle of this month.

Last month, 11 people were killed. The violence continued into April, when five people were killed in less than two weeks.

In Kansas City, no deaths were attributed to complications from COVID-19 in March. A total of 13 coronavirus-related deaths had been reported in Kansas City through Sunday.

So, even as coronavirus cases continued to multiply in Kansas City, homicides claimed more lives than COVID-19 during the last several weeks.

What have police officials done to curb the violence? Apparently, not enough. Even with fewer people on the streets, the death toll continues to rise.

“That, while aggravating, is not unexpected,” said Nathan Garrett, president of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners. “Even in normal times, those members of our community that engage in that activity represent a very small percentage of our population.”

The police department’s targeted approach to violence hasn’t been effective.

A partnership involving both local and federal law enforcement agencies aimed at reducing violent crime has been launched. But it’s too early to tell whether the initiative will make a difference.

In Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas issued a stay-at-home order that took effect March 24.

During the next two weeks, seven people were killed despite the shelter-in-place mandate to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Aggravated assaults increased from 61 in the two weeks before the order to 68 during the following two weeks, Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith wrote in a blog post.

At the start of this year, Lucas resolved to reduce the homicide count in 2020 to fewer than 100. He’s not on track to accomplish that goal.

As of Thursday, 46 people had been killed in Kansas City, up slightly from last year’s pace.

In 2019, 150 people were killed. In 2017, 151 homicides were reported, the highest total since 1993, when 153 lives were cut short.

“As a society, in some ways we have gotten used to it,” Lucas said. “We can’t continue to shrug our shoulders at 150 people losing their lives.”

The current body count is particularly troubling as the city heads into the summer months when violence tends to spike.

If Kansas City can’t cut the murder rate during a pandemic when most people are locked in their houses, when will we ever make inroads?

“We need to dig in,” Lucas said.

The fact that violent crime in Kansas City has continued apace during the coronavirus outbreak should alarm every citizen. Clearly, the effort to reduce violent crime locally needs a reboot.

While the coronavirus pandemic has understandably consumed much of city leaders’ attention, they can’t afford to take their eye off the ball in the battle to reduce violent crime. So far, 2020 has been profoundly disappointing.