KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas is asking Gov. Mike Parson to call a special legislative session to address violence in cities across the state.
KCMO is on track to set a record for the number of homicides in a year, with nearly 100 as of July 3.
Among the victims are children, including 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot while sleeping earlier this week.
In a letter to the governor, Lucas said “no issue has presented a greater challenge to my city than the epidemic of violent crime, particularly gun crime.”
On Thursday, two KCPD officers were injured, one critically, in separate shootings within hours of each other.
Lucas said Kansas City is at a “crisis point” and the state needs to take legislative action.
He called for the Missouri Legislature to “enhance witness protection funding in Missouri” and figure out how to give law enforcement and prosecutors more tools to fight crime.
Lucas said the city needs action from Jefferson City to help in its efforts to send murderers to prison and protect witnesses, who are often afraid to come forward.
“Kansas City is too fine a city and Missouri too fine a state to allow violent criminality to define our way of life,” Lucas wrote. “We will persevere through these challenges, but our children, our law enforcement community, and all Kansas Citians need change quickly.”
The mayors of Columbia, Springfield and St. Louis were copied on the letter.
