TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! DR. ERNEST EVANS REVEALS 'FERGUSON EFFECT' AND POLICE SHORTAGE STILL UNDERMINE KANSAS CITY FIGHT AGAINST RISING CRIME!!!



The latest update on Kansas City crime from a top ranking local expert offers a important data and insight into the stark reality which confronts authorities and residents at the end of the year.

Dr. Ernest Evans: The 2016 Crime Situation in the US and in Kansas City

The FBI has just released its Uniform Crime Report for calendar year 2016, and so it is important to survey the 2016 crime situation both nationally and in Kansas City. With respect to the national situation, there has been a large increase in homicides since 2014. In 2014 there were 14,249 homicides in the US--in 2016 there were 17,250. So, in just two years there has been over a 20% increase in the number of homicides in the US. We have not seen such a large increase in such a short period of time since the late 1960's.

This large increase in homicides has not been spread equally among the population. Of the increase of 3,000 in the homicide totals between 2014 and 2016, 1700 were accounted for by black men, women and children homicide victims.

Kansas City has generally followed these national trends. In 2014 there were 82 homicides in the city--51 black and 31 other races. In 2016 there were 130 homicides in the city--102 black and 28 other races. So, in KCMO, the black homicide rate has increased sharply since 2014 and the homicide rate for other races has remained static.

There are a variety of reasons for this surge in violence in America, particularly in its black neighborhoods, in the past several years. America's gun laws are quite lax by international standards, and the illegal drug trade leads to a great deal of gang-related violence. However, the nation's homicide rate had been declining slowly but steadily since the early 1990's--in 1993 there were 25,000 homicides while, as noted above, in 2014 there were 14,249.

Now that we have the perspective of three years since the tragic death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014 there can no longer be any doubt that this incident played a critical role in the crime surge we have been witnessing in the past three years. Brown's death has sparked a major national debate about the relationship between local police forces and the nation's black communities.

Much of this national debate was an overdue facing up to unfairness in the way that policing is carried out in different US neighborhoods. However, in the age of the Internet and 24-hour news the debate quickly became sensationalized all too often--and a lot of unfair and inaccurate charges were made against the nation's police officers.

These unfair attacks led to two unfortunate consequences, which cumulatively go by the name of the "Ferguson Effect." First, police officers became afraid to do their jobs in black neighborhoods for fear of being accused of racist misconduct--so in many cases they pulled out of such neighborhoods. Nature abhors a vacuum--so the gangs and the criminal elements took over these neighborhoods and unleashed a reign of terror against the residents.

Second, all of this negative publicity about police officers resulted in a sharp decline in applicants for police academies and to many officers retiring. Now, virtually every police department in the nation is seriously under strength. That includes the KCPD: A recent story on Channel 5 News noted that currently the KCPD is short 89 patrol officers.

Here is the "bottom line," both for KCMO and for the nation as a whole. You cannot fight crime with demoralized, under strength police departments. That fact means that we as a city and as a nation are going to have to do something that has gone out of fashion in our politics lately: Compromise. At both the national and local levels the only way to undo the "Ferguson Effect" is to negotiate agreements to, on the one hand, ensure that police officers who abuse their power are punished for what they do; and on the other hand guarantees that in the adjudication of such charges the police officers in question are given due process and fair media coverage.

In conclusion, I am well aware that "compromise" is currently the ultimate "dirty word" in US politics. But if we don't not make some compromises on our national crime situation there is every likelihood that the crime surge we have seen since 2014 will continue.
########

Comments

  1. Dr. Evens makes some excellent points but we also need to worry about cooperation with police that's just not happening.

    We don't need more money from the general fund for people to help authorities identify criminals. It just takes better communication. You can't put that all on police who are now doing most of their outreach online instead of in the community.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ^^^ Be fair to police. The new Chief has reinstated Community resource officers and wants to hire more. That will be much more effective than Twitter and social media in fighting KC crime. But it takes time to undo all of the damage that was done by his predecessor.

      Delete
    2. The keep promising that crime and the murder rate will get better and maybe there is hope because an election year is coming up. That's the only time it has improved in the past decade.

      Delete
  2. If KC wants to be a big city, we're going to have to deal with big city problems. That's just the reality.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've got an idea. The police should refrain from going into the hood because it's a huge waste of time (nobody saw nuffin) and it puts the police in danger.

    What to do instead? Have a heavily guarded body disposal service collect the corpses and take them away. Don't interact with anyone standing around. No interviews with the talking heads on TV.

    It sounds heartless, but there is nothing to be gained by going through the motions of police work. It's a useless endeavor.

    ReplyDelete


  4. city running short of cops... yet to get into the Democrat greedy Firefighters union..you gotta know somebody to get in on that scam!

    decrease firefighter salaries..give more to cops..

    Supply and demand.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The cops already make more than the firemen and the police have the biggest budget by a long shot. They have 1100 police officers now so maybe there’s a problem with management putting them on the street???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They also work non stop 10 hour shifts for five days in a row. As opposed to fire who works 48 on 48 off for a total of 9 days a month, living at the station house between calls.

      Kansas City’s current staffing of 1100 meets a 2005 manpower recommendation, and does not include the vast increase in population and daily workers who travel into town for work. Add in the entertainment aspect and attractions and comparable staffing to population should be 1800

      Delete
  6. 5:39 you sound like your a union hater, why is that? Considering unions are responsible for the 40hr work week, overtime pay and paid vacations, paid sick leave and health care.... we could go back to before the unions got their start and work 60 to 80 hrs a week for chump change, no paid time off and forget about health care all together, not me, but you can

    ReplyDelete
  7. PD works three 8 hour shifts a day, they also work on a stupid schedule of on 3 days off 4, then on 4 off 3, and then on 5 off 2. Who ever came up with this schedule and then agreed to it is an idiot. They have 6 districts and 10 cops per district work a shift for a total of 180 a day so I’m curious what the other 900 plus do that we have such a shortage. Cops work off duty at all the entertainment venues and attractions. They get paid ridiculous amounts to work off duty. They are not poor by any stretch of the imagination

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fire works 24 on and 48 off for a total of 9 days a month and before you get bent out of shape that’s 216 hours a month when the normal is 160 for the rest of us

    ReplyDelete
  9. We've thrown enough money at KCPD for poor results.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The total hours are wrong but it’s still more then average

    ReplyDelete
  11. KCPD is a bottomless pit when it comes to throwing away money.

    ReplyDelete
  12. They get paid really good and don’t have to deal with hoodrats? If I was a young man or woman I’d take that job!

    ReplyDelete
  13. They get paid really good and get to shoot hood rats? Where do I sign up for that?

    ReplyDelete


  14. firefighters paid to sit around the station..watching porn and sleeping...

    many have second full time jobs

    Cha- ching!

    ReplyDelete
  15. The best firefighter job is at the airport, when was the last time a plane crashed!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fudging shame.

    KC was a great city at one time.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The saddest thing here is that unless there's some kind of record for KC murders, nothing is gonna change and we'll just start the whole cycle over again.

    ReplyDelete
  18. And herein lies one of the major differences between black people and everyone else. If you cut the police force where I live by half, nobody here would notice because crime wouldn't go up. Probably be fewer traffic tickets but other than that no one would really notice. Follow me here black people, you won't believe that other people actually live another way. You see, our actions aren't determined by the presence or lack of police. You might find this unbelievable but most of the world doesn't commit crimes at any time, not just when no cops are around. Most of us have jobs that we use to buy things so we don't have to steal and have something called morals that guide us even without the supervision of the law. When there is a massive storm where we live and the electricity goes out it doesn't even cross our minds to loot stores so we can get a new TV or Jordans. We have parents, yes parents, as in plural, that taught us right from wrong. Black people, do you see why people don't like you? Nobody lives the way you do. You ruin everything you touch and wonder why people don't want to live near you.

    ReplyDelete
  19. ^^^ You've obviously never been to Independence, Missouri. The white people there aren't anything like what you've described.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. so you compare one shithole city to every hood across the country...hood rat blacks are their own worst enemy

      Delete
  20. Raytown will be the new KILLA CITY , had to downsize the police force , less cops = much more crime with the Boyz CHIMP bangers inner city youth scholar's hood rats from KC heading east for easy pickings ¡! Home invasion , robberies , rapes , car jacking assault shooting beat down all to be on the rise in Raytown !¡

    ReplyDelete
  21. blaming the surge of violence on police is completely misplaced, as is lax gun laws. the blame goes squarely on the fact that black communities are a significant asset to the prison industrial complex, mandatory minimum sentencing, stigma associated with having to carry around a criminal record when trying to get a job when u have supposedly paid your debt to society in fines and jail/prison time, destruction of families, and lack of financial capital to restore communities. If folks want criminals to reform themselves, give them a goal: if their record stays clean for 1-7 years depending on the crime, their record is AUTOMATICALLY expunged from the public. As it is now, they tell you to be perfect during probation and piss testing but still ass fuck the rest of your life with a criminal record. Politicians have purposely made it easy to destroy folks lives within the criminal system and they have put the police in a horrible position of having to try to control the increasing rage and desperation this brings. DO NOT BLAME THE COPS, blame the politicians and the scum that make a profit off keeping people incarcerated.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Uh, wrong, 8:03. Maybe some slob you're friend or family to is a slacker at a FD. The vast majority do plenty of tasks over the 24 duty hours. NO SLEEP time is ever guaranteed to personnel on-the-clock in FD service, so a shift having only a couple of intensive calls for service, or a series of shorter timed runs, can certainly deny decent rest allotments. Equipment and gear maintenance requirements between housekeeping, cooking, and health activities on erratic timetables when rigs make multiple runs within a 24 hour shift is not ideal. Fatigue and stress from adrenaline spikes, sleep deprivation, and interrupted nutrient intake is proven to pose adverse physical and psychological effects.

    So what if FD has some enterprising, contributing, and responsible members of society who work second gigs and pay more taxes. Youngish FD families are known to have a work from home spouse, other relatives, or friends operating a biz, BECAUSE THE MAKERS GET INCREASINGLY GOUGED BY THE TAKERS, AND KIDCARE FOR A NIGHT SHIFT SPOUSE AIN'T EASY TO FIND, AND WHAT LITTLE IS AVAILABLE, IS VERY EXPENSIVE!

    ReplyDelete
  23. WE had a fucking community conversation about renaming the god damn JC nichols fountain as if that would do a shit bit of good. The conversation should have been about politicians using the prison industry as a mode of economic growth which preys upon the poor, destroys families, causes desperation, and CAUSES VIOLENCE. and folks blame the police for having to deal with the shit show day in and day out. bhahahaha,

    ReplyDelete
  24. fck off 11:47. the US has made their military thieves murders and losers who kill themselves. in other news, cops must wake up everyday and think they want to be killed in the crossfire of egotistic corrupt idiotic cock sucking politicians.

    ReplyDelete
  25. So why hire more officers and spend more money on KCPD if all the officers are going to do is avoid crime, the ghetto and boons? Hell, the citizens are already doing that. We don't need to pay for the service.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Chubby Checker teaches at the KCK Community College?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

TKC COMMENT POLICY:

Be percipient, be nice. Don't be a spammer. BE WELL!!!

- The Management