KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the halfway point of 2023 approaches, Kansas City, Missouri, is on pace to break the record for homicides in a single year.
The current mark, 179, was set in 2020. On June 27 of that year, Kansas City had seen 91 homicides. In 2023, the city is at 97 homicides at the same point.
Dave Bernard, who retired from the KCMO Police Department in 2011 after more than 20 years as a sergeant in the homicide unit, said when homicides happen this rapidly, it's very difficult for detectives to keep pace.
"I can remember on one particular occasion, we had four to five homicides within a 24-hour period," Bernard said. "We were literally going from crime scene to crime scene. That's all we were doing that day."
KCPD says the department has four homicide squads, each made up of six detectives and a sergeant. One squad is on-call for murders citywide, and the squads operate on a two-week rotation.
But Bernard said there are still not enough detectives and investigators.
"I remember one case, the poor individual that was killed, I had to have an officer just stand in the house there and hold it until we can be back," Bernard said. "We didn't have enough crime scene technicians and detectives to work on it."
Complicating matters further for detectives is the reluctance of witnesses to speak.
Bernard said eyewitnesses are one of the strongest tools a detective has to solve a case after forensic evidence, but that doesn't mean the witness will share what they know.
"I have a vivid memory of an elderly lady that was a key eyewitness in a homicide that we were investigating," Bernard said. "She saw the killer from a few feet away. We had the suspect put in a live lineup, and she viewed the lineup, and when that person walked out on the stage, her visceral gut reaction was just memorable, and I thought she was going to pick him out, but she didn't."
Bernard said the woman later told him she didn't want to talk due to concerns of her age and the fact she lived alone in the neighborhood where the homicide happened.
Fear, lack of trust of police and the desire to retaliate can all lead to a witness keeping information to themselves, per Bernard.
"I've seen that many, many times," Bernard said. "I've been told, 'I know who did it, but I'm going to take care of if myself.'"
Bernard said homicide detectives have to operate with a certain level of delicacy for those times witnesses will talk.
--
