Kansas City has a major violent crime problem. What to do about it?
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been speaking with Kansas City mayoral candidates about how they’d use the office to approach the biggest challenges facing Kansas City. Pick up our March issue, out now, for a preview of the race.
In the first two months of 2019, there have been 20 homicides in Kansas City (as of Feb. 26). In 2018, there were 136 homicides total, and in 2017 the city ranked fifth for the highest homicide rate in the U.S., at 30.9 murders per 100,000 residents. Kansas City has a major problem with violent crime, but no one seems to know how to bring the crime rate in the city down.
Many of this year’s mayoral candidates say that tackling the city’s crime issue is at the top of their priority list. We recently asked them how they would approach the problem in Kansas City. Most said there isn’t one simple solution to the problem, and their answers included ideas like mental health programs, more community policing, and asking the community for their thoughts on a solution.
Kansas City is also the only municipality in the country that does have local control of its police department. (A state-appointed Board of Police Commissioners has been in charge since 1939.) Many of the candidates discussed bringing bring local control back to the Kansas City Police Department. Their thoughts are included below.
PHIL GLYNN
“Short-term, I am open to looking at staffing and other administrative changes just to increase coverage. As I talk to people all over town, one thing I hear from people is, ‘I want to see more officers in my community.’ Another short-term thing I think we could do is on focus and deterrence, and I believe that KC NOVA is a good concept. I want to continue with it; I think it’s a good model. The thing that I believe is missing from it is that it does not have enough of a focus on people who are returning to life — formerly incarcerated people — who are rotating back to our community and into their neighborhoods … Long term, the only way for us to make a safer and healthier community is for us to become an economically more successful community. Our whole economic strategy has been just focus on investing in buildings and not including the aspect of investing in people. Real estate development is important, and it brings a lot of jobs to Kansas City, but I think because of our sole focus on that alone for the last 20 years, we have missed this other growing problem of job-skill development … The problem is we have 3,000-5,000 thousand tech jobs that average $90,000 a year that we can’t fill. We have good career paths open to people in Kansas City now; yet at the same time we have neighborhoods in Kansas City where the unemployment rate is shockingly high. So what that tells me as a business owner is that we have a gap between the skills that our employers demand and the skills that people are graduating from 12th grade with.”
The Pitch: Would you support moving the police department from state to local control? “I think that, while it’s not the ideal arrangement, the Board of Police Commissioners, and the mayor of being a member of it allows an accountability measure of Kansas Citians who work in those leadership roles … My job as mayor will be to invest the resources we have to get the most return that we can. The goal of our policing efforts needs to be to make our community safe, which is right now at an unacceptable level of violence. I think the amount of political capital and time and energy it would take to change our government structure could consume four years just right there … So if I am going to have to go down to Jefferson City and persuade the state to change its thinking about that, and if I am going to have to allocate my time, and energy, and the money that there is in this community, I would much rather help with affordable housing and quality jobs, because healthy communities are safe communities.”
QUINTON LUCAS
“I do think police are an important part of the equation for fighting crime. I think it’s a cop-out when people just say, ‘Well, it’s [other] socioeconomic factors that are the big issue.’ Poverty will continue to be a challenge in our society, as well as access to a number of different opportunities. What I think that means for us is: How, while having those type of situations, and very real challenges, can we make it so it’s a safer place for people that we’re not afraid of? I completely reject the idea that just because you’re poor that means that you are going to commit crime, or be more subject to that kind of lifestyle. I am someone who believes that to the extent that we can create more opportunities in our community, that’s one thing. To the extent that we can restrict crime in certain communities, I think that’s another that’s going to be important. And to the extent that we can see the presence of officers throughout our neighborhoods, I think that’s going to be key for our long-term crime-fighting efforts.”
The Pitch: Would you support moving control of police department from state to local control?
“For a very simple reason I would support it: representative government is important and if the people are mad at how the police are operating, they should actually be able to speak to that. And if they’re mad at how Quinton Lucas funds the police they should vote me out of office. And if I’m mad about how the police are actually allocating resources — no body cameras still — then I think there should be some closer type of accountability. Now, don’t get me wrong. I think we should talk to the police department about how we’re doing it. I think we should avoid the challenges St. Louis had, but I think we — fundamentally, long-term — it would be important to have local control of everything that’s local.”
SCOTT TAYLOR
“We need to look at it holistically, and our health departments are a great resource. They’ve been looking at crime as a disease to address those issues just like you would a health disease. So I think we can elevate the health discussion and empower them to be involved … We also need to address things more quickly in a short-term manner. That’s why I really advocated for more community policing, more police on the streets, and also increasing the reward money. Rewards [for homicide tips] used to be $1,000 when I came on the council, and that had been the same figure probably for the last 20 or 30 years. That doesn’t really get people’s attention if they’re motivated by a reward. This new police chief agrees — he went with the corporate community and the city manager and council, and we raised it from $1,000 to $5,000 and then we got it up to $10,000. And what we’re seeing is a record number of tips coming in. What you’re also seeing, if you look at the clearance rate…. A couple of years ago, we were at 50 percent for homicide. So you had a fifty-fifty chance of getting away with a homicide. And the people who are committing these homicides know that. It’s now up, it’s close to 80 percent now. In other communities, like Omaha, where they have a higher reward, rate — I think it’s $20,000 to $25,000 — I think they’re closer to, like, a 90 percent clearance rate [yep: 91 percent, actually]. So it creates an accountability, because it’s a very small percentage of people committing these crimes. We just need to get them off the streets to protect neighborhoods.”
The Pitch: Would you support moving control of police department from state to local control?
“That is something we talked about back in 2011 or 2012.The mayor informed a citizen’s task force to look at whether we should push for that. The citizen’s commission came back and said they did not think it was warranted at the time. We are the only ones in that arrangement, but we do have local representatives that are appointed, that have been a part of the community, and so I think it’s something we can certainly discuss again — maybe have another citizen’s commission, but I’m not sure it’s the magic thing that will solve [the crime issue]. I’m more focused on getting results, on getting crime statistics down. There are a lot of communities that have local control, and that doesn’t necessarily translate to reduced crime.”
ALISSIA CANADY
“The first thing we have to do is look at police staffing. I’m not saying more police officers, I’m saying making sure they have enough staff where it’s needed. Police response times have been an issue for a while. I’ve received complaints from residents who said it took too long for us to show up, and then I’ve also talked to police officers that say, ‘I don’t have enough time between calls to even go take a potty break if I need to.’ The next thing is engaging in the community because the issues as they relate to gun violence and crime are different in each community — having that conversation with the stakeholders and what they perceive as the biggest issue as it relates to crime and violence in our community. And then also what do they think are the remedies for that because as a policy maker, I may say, you know, ‘We need more ‘x’ and the community may say we need more ‘y’… I also believe that the real issue a lot of times we’re dealing with is a combination of these three things I’ve consistently seen: substance abuse, mental health, and hopelessness. People that are optimistic about life and are a “reasonable person” don’t shoot people and kill them over in most cases … You’re not dealing with a reasonable person, you’re dealing with someone that has been trauma-exposed, and hasn’t really learned how to properly deal with that … So, we have got to provide more access to treatment for substance abuse and mental health.”
The Pitch: Would you support moving control of police department from state to local control?
“While St. Louis did get local control, it wasn’t done very smoothly. I think Kansas City could do it in a more gradual way, so it wouldn’t be such a drastic change and we could get an idea of what local control might look like without going all in. We’ve already looked at consolidating departments like IT, so if we were to do that with different departments over time, then we won’t hopefully see that whiplash effect if we ever do go for full local control.”
SCOTT WAGNER
“There’s still both an issue of real safety and perception of safety here in the city. What I want to do is actually bring a holistic approach to that issue. It’s not just having police officers. It has to do not only with the enforcement piece, but it has to do with all the other pieces that we have kind of siloed and treated separately. Those things include everything from the preventative nature of things, we have issues with prosecution, not necessarily at the municipal level, but we want to actually have a better relationship with the prosecutor’s office as well as dealing with our issues at the jail. Those things aren’t necessarily city issues, but we are impacted by them and so it’s taking all of those pieces and working them together at the same time.”
The Pitch: Would you support moving control of police department from state to local control?
“I think our ultimate goal should be local control, but I don’t believe that we should force it. And what I mean by that is — you have had essentially two parallel paths between the city and the police department since 1939. You do not just kind of throw it all together and hope it all works out. That’s what St Louis did, and as you’ll recall, it has caused nothing but chaos.”
STEVE MILLER
“There is no simple solution to crime, which means we are going to need a multifaceted approach. We are going to have to strengthen our neighborhoods, and get them to build their buildings to include partnerships with the police department. We’re going to have to build trust between the police department, and the strategy to do that is increasing social workers we have in the police department, and to have better training in both our communities. We are going to have to make certain changes with our prosecutor’s office by better targeting those who have become serious criminals and not being harsh with mass incarceration. That is going to take a really local approach, a 360-degree approach.”
The Pitch: Would you support moving control of police department from state to local control?
“I am open to a conversation about that. What I get worried about sometimes is people want to change things just for the purpose of change. I am focused on outcomes. I think what we need to talk about if we were to change the system, can we change outcomes? But we have to remember is we have lived with a commission system, which by the way, has consisted over the years of all Kansas Citians. These aren’t people on the outside making decisions, these are people that are respected in Kansas City, and have been nominated by the government. The question is, if we change [the police board of commissioners], does it go from a five-person commission to a 13-person council? What difference will that make? … I really would like to have that discussion.”
HENRY KLEIN
“I’m not a police officer, nor am I a police administrator, so I can’t give you the answer to what [the answer is to tackling violent crime.] If somebody tells me that we need more resources, let’s understand what those resources are. If its dollars, fine, but the better answer would be local control … Say you live in an area that’s served by my branch [Klein manages a bank at 63rd and Prospect] and you’re unhappy with this situation … Well, you might go to the mayor because the mayor is one of the board [of police commissioners] members; you might try to seek out one of those board members; you might try to go to your local police station. But with the exception of the mayor, would any of these people have any motivation to listen to you? Where’s the accountability? … It’s hard to ask of our citizens, particularly those that live in these areas particularly challenged from a crime standpoint … how can they trust the police department when they are in need of help? In the past when I’ve run for mayor and people talked about local police — the idea that you would have police officers on a beat that would get to understand the residents that they serve — how can you have any of that when you don’t have local control of the police department? That means what you’re relegated to do is going to a police station or whatever in our community and asking them to participate. I am not saying they won’t participate, I’m simply saying the link is very weak, and so I’m back to why we need local control. I’m really looking for a solution to better response rates, lower crime levels, etc. If somebody could make a really strong statement as to how we get there without local control funding, let’s have that discussion. But I just don’t believe the two can be exclusive, and I don’t believe you can have state control and the right kind of accountability.”
JERMAINE REED
“I have not made a decision personally about local control. I think that it is an issue that we as a community [should decide]. I would plan to have a task force, but it’s not something that I as the mayor should champion in one way or the other. I often say, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.’ … I think that the police commissioners have done a good job. Obviously as mayor, I will be a commissioner on the committee and there has been a pretty solid relationship between the police and the city. We have a number of issues that we need to be tackling from community policing, to being able to make sure that we are recruiting and retaining officers on the actual police force and being able to get officers out of their cars and on the streets interacting with the folks in the city. I think that it requires a larger community conversation about local control.”
The Pitch: So you think the answer to solving the city’s crime problem is more community policing?
“Sure. That is one [answer]. I think what we’ve seen with the community resource officers has been great, but we’ve got to be able to get more police that actually know the communities in which they are working. And so I think that requires, of course, officers that live in the community, that are working in a community. That they know who the folks are at the local church, they know who the folks are who frequent the convenience stores, or the gas station, or the grocery store, or wherever they may be. I think that type of presence and the relationships that you’re able to build as community policing officers would really allow for them to create a new sort of dynamic of how they should approach policing. Because it’s not that you are policing just to be policing, you should really be working to help everyone within your actual community … And I think providing, of course, more resources for officers … being able to make sure that we have more officers that are able to be throughout all areas of this city is important. When you look at the number of officers they we may have up north on any given night, especially on the weekend, versus how many officers are within the central city, that is an issue that I think we have to be able to tackle.”
JOLIE JUSTUS
“I think that the top issue facing the city right now is the issue of violent crime and public safety. I think that you address it in a multitude of ways. The first thing is acknowledging that we have this problem, that it is a systemic issue that’s not resolved just by City Hall getting involved. It’s understanding that it is a symptom of an awful lot of other issues that we have. As far as specifically addressing public safety and crime, I think it’s going to be incredibly important to make sure that we are doing things in a smart, holistic manner. I think that we need to continue the work that we’re doing with the Kansas City Police Department and their increased emphasis on social work. The second piece of it is making sure that we have more enhanced community interaction officers the way we have been. Because that, to me, is on the ground, you’re seeing results. You take a look at the Northeast part of town for instance, due to some very specific community and neighborhood programs in conjunction with the police department, we have been able to reduce the number of homicides specifically in one neighborhood … I am also a firm believer that programs that look at violent crime as a public health issue are incredibly important because then you’re starting to look at all sorts of different things including the economic status of individuals who are in higher-crime neighborhoods, housing and job opportunities, education opportunities, ensuring that we’re funding our schools at a level that is able to help us with getting kids ready for kindergarten, providing conflict resolution in the school. It’s really just layer, after layer, after layer, and what I will be doing as mayor of Kansas City is making sure that all of those resources are being really well hung together.”
