The Hyde Park neighborhood of Kansas City is fed up with crime in the area.
"This has become a significant problem and we can activate ourselves a bit to stop it,” Hyde Park resident Andrew Johnson said.
Johnson has lived in the south Hyde Park neighborhood for 11 years.
"A lot of families are raising their kids here, right next to people who have lived here for half a century. And so it's a place that a lot of people care about,” he said.
With dozens of break-ins that have occurred near that area over the last six months, a group of neighbors is trying to do something to stop it by forming a volunteer-based crime patrol.
“This is not, you know deputizing a whole bunch of neighbors to act as police. This is not sending people out to catch the bad guys,” Johnson said. “It really is just during the hours that we know these crimes are happening, putting a couple of people in a car with labels on the car that say Hyde Park Crime Patrol and a light and just driving around and letting these criminals know that we are putting more eyes on the street.”
Johnson said this isn’t the first time a volunteer crime patrol has come together in the neighborhood.
There was one that started nearly 30 years ago, and neighbors are hoping to bring it back.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Hyde Park resident Paula Phillips said. “We know the ins and outs. We know when our neighbors are home. We don't know when our neighbors are home sometimes. You know your neighbor's car, you know your friend's car, you've seen who regularly visits your block.”
Residents hope more eyes on the street will decrease the number of break-ins happening.
“This isn't about being afraid in our own homes and in our own neighborhoods,” Johnson said. “It's actually about we are a community of people who wants to have a good place to live and raise our kids and this is just something we need to do to make it better."
On Thursday, December 15, there will be a meeting at Pilgrim Chapel at 7 p.m. to talk about the volunteer-based crime patrol and safety tips for homeowners.
For more information about the event, click here.
------
Rae Daniel can be reached at Rae.Daniel@KSHB.com.
