Nonfatal shootings have spiked 39% so far this year, despite recent efforts at tackling Kansas City’s gun violence problem.
That uptick is in part attributed to the mass shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl rally where two dozen people were shot and one bystander was killed on Valentine’s Day.
But even March saw a drastic increase — 42% — with 51 nonfatal shootings, according to Kansas City Police Department data presented at this week’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting. That’s compared to 36 recorded in both 2022 and 2023.
As of April 23, there have been 190 nonfatal shootings compared to 137 in 2023. Last year, the city suffered a record-breaking 185 homicides. That rate is down this year, with 44 homicides compared to 51 at the same time last year.
“The alarming rise in non-fatal shooting numbers does not get lost on us,” said Sgt. Phil DiMartino, a spokesman for the police department.
Of particular concern, he said, are the number of children who have become victims of gun violence. Forty-one youths have been shot and survived this year in Kansas City. Four of them were under age 13.
Seven children ranging in age from eight weeks to 17 have died in homicides this year, according to data tracked by The Star. At least one child has died in an accidental shooting.
Mayor Quinton Lucas said the city is addressing gun violence from all sides, including by providing resources for survivors of shootings, funding violence prevention programs and providing social services to those impacted by or at risk of violence.
“We all want our children and future generations of Kansas City to grow up in safe and vibrant neighborhoods,” Lucas said in a statement. “I have hope and I am committed to making it happen.”
Addressing gun violence
The police department says it has deployed three primary strategies: data-informed community engagement, data-driven deployment and focused deterrence. The first two aim to bring resources to areas most affected by violence. Focused deterrence targets high-risk offenders and features both swift sanctions for offenses as well as social services.
Police have also implemented the Teamwork to Evaluate and Analyze Management Strategies concept. TEAMS uses data to help identify root causes of performance issues within the department and guide managerial discussions, DiMartino said.
He also said it was important to note that violent crime goes beyond the department’s efforts. Several initiatives have launched in recent years including Partners for Peace and KC 360, a violence prevention strategy modeled off Omaha 360, which saw a 74% drop in shootings.
“These numbers occurred over the course of 15 years,” DiMartino noted. “I make that a point of emphasis not because we should wait 15 years but we won’t get out of this cycle of violence right away.”
Last May, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves unveiled a citywide plan called the Violent Crime Reduction Initiative, described as an aggressive collaboration between police and a host of other groups.
The newer programs are in addition to longstanding organizations like the AdHoc Group Against Crime.
AdHoc’s president Damon Daniel said the roots of Kansas City’s gun violence problem can be traced back to generational trauma, economic divestment and institutional racism. Getting at these systemic issues is important, he said, but take time and investment. One potential route is a reparations program, which is currently being studied.
Other components include conflict resolution, particularly for youth, and gun legislation, though that has faced resistance at the state level.
More immediately, Daniel said, police need to arrest more suspects in nonfatal shootings and prosecutors need to file harsher charges.
“There hasn’t been much consequence,” he said, when it comes perpetrators of nonfatal shootings.
Daniel also said that he wants to ensure the $30 million allocated in 2023 by the City Council, to be spent over five years, goes to the most effective crime prevention strategies.
At this week’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting, the members approved a $318 million police department budget for the next fiscal year.
___
© 2024 The Kansas City Star
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
