If one of KC’s iconic diners can’t operate overnight, what are police doing? | Opinion
If you haven’t already heard, there’s big news in the Crossroads this week: Town Topic is abandoning overnight service at its Broadway location after decades as a 24-hour diner.
The iconic burger stand says it “pleaded with the police department and Crossroads over the years to help support and secure the area” but had not received “adequate support” to continue operating safely overnight.
To read my full original column — including the role of the absentee parking lot owner, the city’s nuisance property rules, and Mayor Quinton Lucas’ broader response — read here.
KCPD says it has been actively policing the area. Spokesperson Alayna Gonzalez told me the department deploys foot beat officers, bicycle patrols, ATVs and proactive units throughout the Crossroads. But if those efforts were meaningfully deterring the disorder around the absentee-owned parking lot south of Town Topic — long known as a gathering point for street racers and other late-night chaos — it was not especially apparent to the people living and working nearby.
I live a few blocks away myself. After midnight, policing in much of the Crossroads often feels remarkably thin for one of the city’s premier entertainment districts. Nobody really wants to say that too loudly. Town Topic bent over backward in its statement to thank the police, even after saying they didn’t provide enough support. Mayor Quinton Lucas likewise strained to avoid directly blaming KCPD, saying the department “doesn’t exist to nanny privately owned properties where the owner doesn’t care to call.” Few businesses or civic leaders want to be perceived as insufficiently supportive of the cops.
But it is fairly obvious that lazy policing is part of the equation here. Look no further than the Crossroads Community Improvement District itself. The district was formed largely because of persistent concerns about property crime and disorder in the neighborhood. Its first patrol officers from Titan Protection hit the streets Wednesday — the very same day Town Topic announced it was narrowing its hours.
Kansas City increasingly seems to operate under the assumption that if neighborhoods or business districts want a stronger sense of order, they should organize and finance it themselves. Across the city, business owners increasingly feel they must hire off-duty officers or create entirely new quasi-private layers of security simply to maintain a basic sense of order around their establishments. Meanwhile, the police department consumes a massive and growing portion of the city’s budget.
The real question we should be asking in regard to Town Topic is why such a well-funded department cannot keep disorder from festering around one of Kansas City’s most recognizable businesses.
