KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Memorial Day weekend brought violence and seven homicides across Kansas City, Missouri.
A Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department spokesperson said it was among the most violent holiday weekends they can remember.
Many people were hurting in Kansas City, but also urging the community do their part, too.
“Speak up, share what you know,” said Damon Daniel, president of the AdHoc Group Against Crime. “Listen, it is not snitching; it’s doing what’s right. What if it happened to you? You would want people to speak up and share what they know. Every piece of info is a piece to a puzzle. Every piece of information matters.”
Daryl Ivey, a Kansas City resident, said the lack of cooperation in investigations is a big problem.
“I think that’s one of the poisonings we have — we kind of keep quiet about too much stuff,” Ivey said. “If we would hold each other accountable of not speaking instead of speaking, we wouldn’t catch the aftermath of the devastation.”
With violence crisscrossing the city, retired KCPD Sgt. David Bernard knows it’s tall ask to ask people to come forward.
“They think, 'Well, I’m not really involved, I don’t know the guy that was killed, I have information,'" Bernard said. “But the problem is if they tell the story, they are going to go to court. A lot of these times these suspects are out pretty quick on bond back in the same neighborhood with our witnesses. It’s no wonder people don’t want to take a chance sometimes.”
Bernard says police will combat that with honesty, expectations and gratitude.
“The detectives aren’t going to be able to solve this without your help,” he said. “We love anonymous tips, they can lead us into the right direction, but we’d always love a witness.”
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