Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith will explain major new initiatives to reduce the city’s horrendous homicide rate and other violent crime at the South Kansas City Alliance meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, July 8, in the front building of the South Patrol Police Campus, 9701 Marion Park Dr.
Chief Smith will discuss the recent increase in the reward from up to $10,000 to up to $25,000 for anonymous tips to the TIPS Hotline about homicides in KCMO that lead to filing charges or arrests thanks to additional funding from the city.
Smith recently noted in his Chief’s Blog that Omaha which has a population only slightly smaller than Kansas City’s has had a $25,000 reward for homicide tips resulting in an arrest for several years and last year only had 20 homicides compared to KCMO’s 138. Omaha also has reported solving over 70% of its homicides annually for years, a consistently higher clearance rate than Kansas City’s.
Smith also will discuss a change in focus for the Kansas City No Violence Alliance (KC NoVA) from targeting groups involved in violent criminal activity to targeting individuals who are frequently involved in violent crime who he described as “the trigger-pullers”. He said in his blog that research from Tampa, which has adopted a similar strategy and has experienced a dramatic decrease in violent crime, showed that about 6% of violent offenders in that city were responsible for approximately 60% of its violent crime.
The significant impact recent increases in the reward for tips about KCMO homicides have had on solving homicides will be explained by Kansas City Detective Kevin Boehm, coordinator of the Greater KC Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline, a program of the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission.
The reward for tips for KCMO homicides that lead to filing charges or arrests was increased from only up to $2,000 to up to $5,000 in November 2017 and to up to $10,000 in April 2018. The TIPS Hotline has reported that publicity about the higher rewards contributed to a 26% increase in homicide tips and to more than doubling the number of homicides solved due to anonymous tips throughout the metropolitan area.
Speaking on the need for witnesses and others with knowledge about homicides to tell what they know to the TIPS Hotline and about the efforts of their organizations to reduce homicides will be Rosilyn Temple (left), founder and executive director of KC Mothers in Charge, and Monique Willis, founder and CEO of Momma on a Mission.
Ryana Parks-Shaw, one of two new city councilmembers-elect from south Kansas City, will speak about her preparations for taking office and her initial priorities. She also will ask for input from attendees on what issues or problems they feel she should focus on immediately.
Andrea Bough, the other new councilmember-elect from south Kansas City, will speak at our August 12 meeting.
Complimentary fresh baked made from scratch cookies and pastries from the in-house bakery at Fresh Market grocery store, 6859 Longview Rd., as well as coffee, lemonade and water, will be available at the meeting.
Upcoming events
The SKCA meets each month on the second Monday at 6:00 pm at the South Patrol Police Station unless otherwise noted in email notices.
Next SKCA General Meeting:
SKCA General Meeting on Monday, August 12 at 6:00 pm at South Patrol Station.
If you have events for our community calendar, please share for display on our SKCA website calendar and social media channels.
"A coalition of neighborhood organizations, civic, educational and faith institutions, nonprofits and business interests dedicated to a unified vision for South Kansas City."
