Funk's Front Porch

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Speech

Today, Mayor Funkhouser held a press conference to announce his intention to join the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition. Click the link below to read an outline of the speech he delivered:

Download illegal_guns_talking_points.pdf

Mayor to Announce Plan to Join National Coalition Against Illegal Guns

Standing behind a cache of recently confiscated fire arms, Mayor Mark Funkhouser will join city officials and fellow Mayors from across the metro to announce his intention to join the National Coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The press conference will be today, August 5, at 11:45 a.m. outside Police Headquarters, 1125 Locust.

Mayor Funkhouser will be joined by Councilmember Cathy Jolly, Chair of the Public Safety and Neighborhoods Committee and Chief of Police Jim Corwin, as well as several area mayors who are already members of the coalition: Mayor Joe Reardon of Kansas City, Kansas; Mayor William Rodgers of Edwardsville, Kansas; and Mayor Carl Wilkes of Merriam, Kansas.

“I think people will be shocked when they see – all piled up in one place – the kind of illegal fire power our police have removed from the hands of criminals,” Mayor Funkhouser said. “But I want people to see these guns to underscore the importance of cities and city officials working together to reduce illegal gun violence.”

Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns was formed in 2006 by Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston and Mayor Bloomberg of New York City to allow mayors from across the country to work together to find innovative new ways to reduce illegal gun violence. The Coalition's bipartisan ranks have now grown to over 300 mayors from more than 40 states, and its statement of principles has been endorsed by major national organizations such as the US Conference of Mayors and the National Conference of Black Mayors.

Mayors typically join the coalition by signing its statement of principles. However, Mayor Funkhouser will be co-sponsoring with Councilmember Jolly a resolution which would direct the Mayor to join the coalition by signing its principles. The resolution will be formally introduced at the City Council Legislative Session this Thursday.

“As a former assistant prosecutor, I’ve seen the damage illegal guns can do to communities,” Councilmember Jolly said. “Now, as chair of Public Safety and Neighborhoods, I appreciate that the Mayor is taking this a step further and asking for City Council support in joining the coalition. This is a step we can take together as a city in our ongoing effort to ensure the safety of Kansas Citians.”

Mayor Funkhouser has also invited other mayors from across the metro area to join the coalition, some of whom may be attending the press event this afternoon.

The announcement will be made in conjunction with the 25th Annual National Night Out Against Crime, in which thousands of communities across the nation will host crime prevention and awareness events this evening.

For more information, please contact Joe Miller in the Mayor’s Office, 816-513-3508. To learn more about Mayors Against Illegal Guns, visit their website at

www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org

KCPD Crime Mapping

Below is a link to a new service offered by the Kansas City Police Department. Through this mapping feature residents are able to view current crime information across the city. http://www.kcpd.org/crimemapping.html

Graffiti Data

Below is a link to the latest Action Center data regarding reported graffiti. The information, compiled by city staff, reveals several troubling trends.

The monthly breakdown shows the traditional trend of increased graffiti in the "back to school months" of August and September. Most cities experience similar trends. Graffiti tapers off through out the fall and winter months and bottoms out in the month of January. However, as the bar graph indicates, January of ‘08 in Kansas City was an exception as reported graffiti sky rocketed surpassing that of the any other month in 2007.

Also, the District breakdown reveals that 49 percent of the city’s reported graffiti occurred in the 1st District. Based on the locations of the 357 reports, this is occurring south of the river. The 3rd and 4th Districts have also been heavy hit.

Please keep in mind that this only includes reported graffiti. Also, according to KCPD, city staff and neighborhood leaders, the vast majority of this graffiti is gang related and not the work of "graffiti artists."

Download 311_graffiti_data_2.22.08.xls

-CR

Mayor appoints Rosa James to Judicial Nominating Commission

News from the Mayor's Office
City of Kansas City, Mo.
www.kcmo.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 11, 2008

Mayor appoints Rosa James to Judicial Nominating Commission

Mayor Mark Funkhouser has appointed community advocate Rosa James to the Municipal Judicial Nominating Commission.

“Rosa James has a strong history of community leadership and advocacy,” Mayor Funkhouser said. “I am confident that she will bring a valuable perspective to the Commission.”

Ms. James’ resume boasts a lengthy list of professional and voluntary involvement, including 36 years as a teacher and administrator with the Kansas City school district and many years of service with the Kansas City branch of the NAACP.

"My vision, as a commission member, is to witness the expansion of judges who possess skill and sensitivity in cultural and social diversity, as related to equity and law,” Ms. James said. “The present system lacks a level playing field and needs repair in the area of equal representation for the majority of municipal court customers."

The charge of the Municipal Judicial Nominating Commission is to provide panels from which the City Council selects Municipal Court judges. The term is for four years.

For more information contact Kendrick Blackwood in the Mayor’s office, 816-513-3513.

Violent Crime in America: A Tale of Two Cities

Last week, the Police Executive Research forum released a report on recent trends in violent crime rates entitled Violent Crime in America: A Tale of Two Cities.

A desrciption of the report from PERF's website:

This report is the third in a series on the increases in violent crime levels that began in 2005, following a decade of falling crime rates across the nation. Violent Crime in America: A Tale of Two Cities suggests that new programs and policies undertaken by local police to reverse unfavorable crime trends may be having an impact. For the first time in three years, PERF’s survey of 56 jurisdictions showed indications of decreases in homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, and aggravated assault with a firearm during the first six months of 2007, when compared to the same period in 2006.

However, the report also shows that the improvements are far from universal. The devastating increases in violent crime of 2005 and 2006, when many cities saw homicides increase 20 percent or more, are continuing in many jurisdictions.

Thus the “Tale of Two Cities”: Crime is continuing its upward trend in many jurisdictions, while in other communities there are signs that police and the residents they serve are working together and are making a difference.

Kansas City's Police Department participated in the national summit that led to thiss report.

KCPD Strategic Plan

The Police Department has published a strategic plan for implementing its Blueprint for the Future, which was completed last year. You can read the strategic plan by clicking here.

- ME

Graffiti Map

The following is a map of reported Graffiti locations to the Action Center since January 2007. As anticipated, the majority of the problem is in the Northeast and Eastside. There should be over 200 locations mapped, however in the Northeast many of the locations would be mapped right on top of one another. Please keep in mind that these are only the cases that have been reported. A vast majority of graffiti and tag goes unreported and this by no means completely captures the intensity of the problem.

Let me be clear that when I say graffiti, Kansas City’s problem seems to be with gang tag and not necessarily the colorful tagger work we might associate with subways or bridges. It is my belief that this graffiti is a symptom of a larger problem. The tag that appears in Kansas City is usually the work of numerous Hispanic gangs claiming territory and making challenges. Some of the gangs are local while others are nationally known and have migrated from Texas and California. In the Northeast this is a problem. The gang/youth problem is something that is very deeply rooted. And while graffiti is a symptom of this problem we can still work to address it. Check out the map, I’ll keep you updated.

Download graffiti.pdf

- CR

Baltimore Gun Offender Registry

One of the Mayor's top priorities is reducing crime. As part of that effort, he has asked staff to research what other cities have done, particularly with regards to illegal guns. One strategy that other cities are considering is the creation of a gun offender registry. Much like sex offender registries, which are widely used, this would require anyone who has been convicted of a gun crime to register their address and report to the police department for a period of time after conviction.

One such city is Baltimore. The Mayor's office in that city has provided us with a fact sheet about their proposed measure, as well as a copy of the ordinance they are considering.

Download gun_offender_registry_fact_sheet.doc

Download draft_bill_gun_offender_registry_june_6_2007.pdf

More info from the Police audit committee

The PD internal auditor released reports today:

Communication Support Unit Audit
Post-audit of the Property and Evidence Unit Audit
Take Home Car Audit
Special Duty Days Audit
Preventable Vehicular Post Audit

All are online at:

http://www.kcpd.org/kcpd2004/AuditFiles.htm

- ME