KANSAS CITY, Mo — Crime across the United States has declined significantly over the last year.
According to new data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, violent crime dropped by eight percent. But this unfortunately is not the case in Kansas City, Missouri.
In fact, in just the last year, homicide rates increased by six percent. So far this year, there has been 179 homicides in Kansas City, Missouri.
According to the city, it is the same root causes:
- Lack of mental health resources;
- Lack of conflict resolution skills;
- Education gaps;
- Historical socio-economic disparities across the Kansas City area
“We can’t be surprised that our recidivism rate is one of the highest in the country,” Melesa Johnson, KCMO’s director of public safety, said.
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The KCMO City Council invested $30 million towards violence prevention, especially targeting youth.
Aim for Peace, an organization within the KCMO Health Department, works with teen liaisons who stand between Prospect Avenue and east 35th Street, engaging with other kids their age.
“We do everything from grief counseling, to work force development, connecting them with better paying jobs, mental health support,” Johnson said.
There is also a violence intervention program called “Partners for Peace.” It works with victims, their families and even the perpetrators to decrease retaliation from victims and break the cycle of violence.
“Reducing the amount of homicides that take place because of arguments is something that I would really like to see us tackle in the years ahead,” Johnson said.
Regardless of whether the effort is citywide of individual, all involved agree it takes everyone to bring down the number of homicides.
For Jenny Hite, who lost her 36-year-old son Chad Donaldson in 2014 in Belton, Missouri, says it starts with sharing her story.
“I think if people like me could go out and talk to the schools and talk to the children in the schools; I think that may be helpful in the future,” Hite said. “I think if you can catch the kids when they are younger and teach them the importance of this, that that would make a huge difference.”
Hite believes her son knew his killer — an act of jealousy. But due to lack of evidence, his murder was not taken to court for conviction.
She is planning to start a fundraiser called Chad’s Unsolved Cooperative in order to hire private detectives to work hand in hand with the police departments for another set of eyes and to help piece cases together.
“We need to try harder to solve these unsolved cases and you know, stop making it so easy to get away with murder,” Hite said.
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