Kansas City leaders share ways to reduce violence against children

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the past week, three children have been shot in Kansas City, Missouri, two of them have died.

The most recent happened Wednesday night, a boy caught in the middle of a shooting near E. 33rd Street and Bales Avenue . Family members tell FOX4 the child is 6 years old but police have not confirmed that. He’s in the hospital now in critical condition.

On April 10, someone fired shots at a home near E. 33rd Street and Flora Avenue, killing 11-year-old Kourtney Freeman inside . She was just one month away from her 12th birthday.

On April 16, a 5-year-old boy died in what police are calling an “accidental shooting.” Police found Mari Scott shot outside a home on E. 51st Street near Eastern Avenue .

Director of Public Safety Melesa Johnson says NoVA or the No Violence Alliance that was disbanded is being revived with a new name. It will now be called Stand Against Violence Everybody KC, in short, SAVE KC.

“Focused deterrence is specifically designed to identify the most dangerous, callous, and cold criminals in our community and extracting them from our ecosystem because their code of conduct does not comport with who we are as a community and as a city,” Johnson said during an interview with reporters Thursday.

“Focused deterrence, the strategy to reduce violence that SAVE KC is built on, is most proven to reduce group or gang violence,” Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Director of Communications Michael Mansur said in a statement sent to FOX4 Thursday. “It will enforce on those persons involved in violence. But it will also offer help to persons not yet facing enforcement. We want to move them away from any future life of violence.”

In May of last year, Kansas City Police Department Chief Stacey Graves announced a new community imitative to try to reduce crime.

Thursday, KCPD Public Information Officer Alayna Gonzalez said the department’s trying to come up with creative ways to start combating crime. She said they have certain areas they focus on, gathering any information they can from the people who live there.

“We start pinpointing who our prolific violent offenders are and reaching out to them and saying, ‘Hey, we know that this is what’s going on. We’re going to offer you some resources to get out of this life of violent crime, but if you don’t, this is where we’re going to stand,'” Gonzalez said to reporters Thursday. “There’s going to have to be consequences of that right?'”

Johnson said the fact there’s limited jail space plays a part in why these repeat offenders aren’t still behind bars.

“When police officer staffing is substantially lower than what it needs to be, hopefully that changes soon with the allocation of the $30 million increase to hopefully raise salaries, we have to try other things to interrupt the cycle of criminality right?” she said. “What does it look like if we try to help people, if we try to restore people when the other option is not as prevalent as it might have been in the past?”

Johnson said three of the homicide suspects this year alone have been under the age of 17.

There have been 42 homicides so far in 2024 , compared to the 51 that happened at this same time last year, a decrease of nine, according to KCPD’s Daily Homicide Analysis. East Patrol has responded to more homicides this year, 17, than any other KCPD station.

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