Against the backdrop of a new wave of gun violence in Kansas City, a group of community leaders gathered Thursday to tout an ambitious effort to reduce crime, saying the city must address root causes like housing and jobs .
The KC United for Public Safety collective, made up of community groups, businesses, elected officials and law enforcement, released a report outlining a slew of ideas to reduce crime, based on input from across the city and efforts that are already underway.
Organizers said the project aims to replicate the decline in crime seen in other cities such as Omaha, Nebraska through similar work.
Goals include cutting gun violence in half in five years, reducing the city’s homicide rate to under 100 per year, and making a “measurable impact” on areas such as housing and homeownership, jobs and business growth . Priority efforts include targeted deterrence by law enforcement, street intervention workers, support for shooting victims and families, expanded employment and mentoring for youth, grants for community projects, and housing and job training for those leaving prison.
“Addressing the root causes will allow us to move forward in a way that will improve the safety of our city,” Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw said at a news conference Thursday.
Mayor Quinton Lucas said: “It will cost money, it will cost time, it will cost people, but above all it will take dedication. Kansas City can truly be a safer community.”
Lucas noted that he had made police runs in cities like Baltimore, St. Louis and Los Angeles, where crime had dropped.
“There is nothing else about our community that doesn’t allow this,” he said.
The night before, five people were injured in a shooting in Westport. Kansas City police said the shooting left four men and a juvenile injured, three with serious injuries. The victims have been treated and are recovering, police said. As of Thursday afternoon, no one was in custody for the shooting.
At Thursday’s news conference, Lucas concluded a reporter’s question about the shooting from a reporter and directed questions about the incident to a police spokesperson.
Klassie Alcine, CEO of KC Common Good, a nonprofit that helped lead the KC United group, pointed to the economic impact of the city’s violence.
“Our violence impacts our ability to attract and retain talent, it impacts our ability for companies to come and relocate to Kansas City,” she said.
Kansas City has recorded 123 homicides so far this year, according to data from The Star, including fatal police shootings. Last year, the city’s deadliest year on record, the city recorded 149 murders. Kansas City ultimately had 185 homicides citywide in 2023.
The most notable example of violence in the city this year occurred in February, at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl rally. An argument between two groups led to gunfire that left one bystander dead. Dozens were injured in the shooting and during the rush to flee the incident near Union Station.
Another mass shooting injured six people at the Crown Center in January. That shooting was also kicked off by a fight between two groups believed to be gangs.
At Thursday’s news conference, Kansas City Council Member Johnathan Duncan said the city’s crime problems did not develop overnight and will not be solved anytime soon. our children gone. We’re not going to make sure we arrest them at the back if we’re not going to take care of them at the front.”
The Star’s Kendrick Calfee and Ilana Arougheti contributed to this story.
