Congratulations, Kansas City?

Kansas City just made a big, rather important, national list and it's in and from The New York Times, too.

Here Are the 98 U.S. Cities 

Where Protesters Were Tear-Gassed

98 U.S. cities where protesters were tear-gassed recently, as we know, for protesting the murder of an  American citizen by a police officer on the streets of Minneapolis.

And yes, Kansas City, Missouri, you're on the list. Our own Kansas City, Missouri police force gassed fellow citizens.

Not legal in war but a-okay for our police to use on tax-paying, American citizens here on our streets.

Ain't we great?

Aren't we special?

American exceptionalism, all right.

Link:

Tear gas has been banned in warfare. 

Why do police still use it?

KCMO Police and City Hall Need to Maybe See What Chicago is Doing About Gun Violence

Chicago hit the news this week, this new year and in good ways for them. Surprisingly, at least to me, it's pretty big news.

Homicides, shootings decline for 3rd consecutive year in Chicago, Police Department says

Homicides fell below 500 last year in Chicago for the first since 2015, marking the third consecutive year of double-digit decreases, official Police Department statistics show.

Anyone can and no doubt will say what they will about the Windy City but if it, the city and the police, are getting good results, this kind of results, cutting homicides and shootings, with their population and size, it seems we here in Kansas City could likely learn things from them. Someone--the police chief, our new Mayor, someone, ought to maybe get up there, ask some questions and see what they're doing to get good results.

Here's hoping.

Mayor Lucas?  Police Chief Smith?

The KCPD Is Hurting Itself This Week. Big Time

Man drives car into stopped cars.

Innocent teen killed. 17 years old.

Also critically injuring his father and sister.

Car destroyed. 2 other cars also damaged.

Weather, dry. Road, clear.

No ticket issued.

17 days ago.

You and me?

We’d have been ticketed. On the spot. At the very least.

The difference?

He’s a police officer.

He was off-duty.

From the article:

“Although multiple witnesses and other drivers gave statements to police that were reflected in the crash report, the off-duty officer driving the van did not.

He still had not given a statement to investigators two days later, when Police Chief Rick Smith said he had ‘no idea’ what caused the wreck”

How many things are wrong with this?

“Investigators reported that the off-duty officer showed no evidence of alcohol use.”

Was the officer tested, on the scene or shortly thereafter, for alcohol use? Was he given a breathalyzer? The articles make no mention of it.

Does this not look like the police trying to protect “one of their own”, laws and justice and even common sense, be damned?

If it’s not, explain to us all why it’s not, please.

“Until Thursday,…” (yesterday, Nov 8) “…the Police Department had not released a standard police report from the wreck, even though Missouri law requires it.”

“As in all open investigations where possibility exists for a person to face charges, the identity of that person (is) to be withheld,” Colón said. “We respect the legal process and will honor it by not releasing the officer’s identity until which time is allowable.”

“…respect the legal process…”? Really? See above.

Since the wreck, Chandan’s father and sister have remained hospitalized.

His father Krishna Rajanna, 81, remained in the intensive care unit at Truman Medical Center.

Krishna Rajanna suffered multiple internal injuries in the wreck, including severe arm, rib and leg fractures.

Chandan’s sister Lisa Allen suffered a brain injury and was recently moved to a rehabilitation hospital in Lincoln, Neb.

Justice much?

By contrast and comparison, check out what happens to someone who isn’t a police officer. This posted yesterday.

Man charged in deadly Overland Park hit-and-run

Found 2 days later, he’s been arrested and charged.

But he's a regular schlub like you and me.

Go figure.

KCPD: "To Protect and Serve"?

KC police kill 3 in 1 day, say they met 'criteria for lethal force.' 

Questions remain

In second Kansas City police shooting of the day, police kill two in busy downtown

Maybe.

Could be.

We certainly hope.

KCPD and Target Doing a Very Cool Thing Today

I had some time away from the office today and had to run some errands. One of those errands took me to the Target store at Ward Parkway Mall.  Those pesky vacuum cleaner bags, you know?

I pulled into the parking lot and, before getting parked, noticed a Kansas City, Missouri police department squad car, parked there but far out in the lot. It seemed odd. I never see that.

I got inside, of course, only to see an officer. "Ah, that's the one who parked there", I thought.

Then I saw another officer.

And another.

And sure, it's the holidays but the store seemed unusually busy for the middle of the week and middle of the day.

Pretty soon, I noticed there were police--and families with them, it seemed--all over the place.

I stopped this one young officer and asked him what was up.

He said that, yes, the KCPD did this, every year, I guess. Today there were going to be 152 kids go through with them, shopping, today alone. They call it their "Shop With a Cop" program, you guessed it, for the holidays.

I congratulated and thanked him and a few of the other officers there.

What a fantastic program. Seems Target sponsors it.

Shop With A COP Program‎

Seems it's quite the national program. Lee's Summit does it, as does Parkville and  Prairie Village, on the Kansas Side and lots of other cities and towns in the area. Unknown to me, it's been going on for years. This video, from KMBC News, is from 2014.



So kudos, KCPD, and to you, too, Target and really, all of Kansas City.

What a great thing. What a great, even beautiful thing to do.

It's enough to give a person hope.

Happy holidays, y'all.

Links:

shop with a cop

Shop with a Cop - City of Parkville

Kansas City Makes an Ugly List

I found this floating around on Facebook today. I was stunned. Definitely a horrible list to be on, if true. And frankly, I assume it is.

Man Sues Kansas City, Missouri Police Department

Kansas Citians, guess how this is going to go.

Dash cam video shows Kansas City, Mo. police officer punching a suspect; man is now suing

Check out the video and see what you think:

Looks as though he's absolutely guilty of walking while black, at the very least.

And you know who's going to pay for it, right?

This, likely, is what the city needs to do.

You can now discriminate against WHO??

I can hardly believe this happened in America:

City bans man with high IQ banned from being a policeman

And now, I can hardly believe a court said the city can do so:

Court OKs Barring High IQs for Cops

Wth, America?

Nothing, nothing good can come from this.

We need to be better than this.

We need to be SO much better than this.

So now we found yet another group we can discriminate against.

Freaking wow.

I can see the sign now:

"Intelligent police officers need not apply."

Brilliant.

On Boston, the police...and unions

Could this "Baby Lisa" case get any weirder?

There are more weird things going on with this missing baby Lisa Irwin case than I can even all remember and list here today. That she even went missing in the first place is odd, to start. Then it went really looney. Why does anyone steal a middle- or lower-class couple's child at all, unless they just want their own child? (Which it wouldn't be but that's why it's odd right there at the beginning). Then, how does it happen? Did mom put Lisa to bed at 10:30--which is pretty darned late for a 6-month old but who can say?--or at 6:30 that evening--which is REALLY early? Who knows? Mom said both. Then, why would mom admit on NATIONAL TV that she was drunk? Yikes. Good move, Mom. You get kudos for honesty, anyway. Next up is, did she have 5 glasses of wine, as one TV news station reported or did she have 10? Either one doesn't sound good but that's too late--the cat's out of the proverbial bag. Then a New Yawk attorney shows up. Yeehaw. You can't have enough of those headline-grabbing, camera-lovers, can you? Then they get a LOCAL attorney, too. Great idea. Two attorneys, one local, one not. That'll work, I'm sure. Then, yesterday, the local attorney releases a brief and terse announcement, saying she quits and that she was squeezed out by Mr. New York. There's a shocker, huh? Let's see, what else have I forgotten? A Colorado man drives in because he and his wife, years ago, had a nearly identical thing happen to them. Fortunately, he really does just seem to want to be any help if he can. Oh, here's a favorite weird thing in this for me: the parents are said by the police to NOT BE COOPERATING. There's a great idea, huh? Say, if you're innocent and you want your baby back and you have no idea what happened to the child, MAYBE YOU WANNA' COOPERATE WITH THE POLICE?? COMPLETELY? Does that maybe sound like a good idea? And a lie detector test? You didn't do anything wrong, right? Right? So maybe that shouldn't be a problem? And you don't want to talk any more to the police but you want to talk to the national news media. Huh. Right now, ongoing, the parents don't want to consent to be interviewed by the police in separate interviews. Additionally, for days, now, the parents weren't letting the police interview baby Lisa's two step-brothers. Then it was on. Then they postponed even that. And keep in mind, this coming week baby Lisa will have been gone AN ENTIRE MONTH. As they said today on Yahoo! News (see link below): "It's an extraordinarily late time to be finally allowing interviews of witnesses who were in the house the night the baby is said to have disappeared." Let's review. YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG, right? You have nothing to hide, as you've said. And you don't know where your daughter is. And you want her back. Have I got all that down correctly? Uh, so WHY AREN'T YOU AND CAN'T YOU COOPERATE COMPLETELY?? Sorry, just gotta' ask. See, we aren't assuming you're guilty, understand. We just have no freaking idea where you're coming from. Get back to us on all that, will you? Please? Links: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/28/3235994/kc-lawyer-confirms-shes-out-of.html; http://news.yahoo.com/missing-baby-lisa-irwin-damaging-details-emerge-despite-135000443.html

Saturday afternoon

Yes, this was the scene along 47th Street--or is it Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard here?--this past Saturday afternoon.  Apparently someone thought they should smash the plate glass window, see what they could get and go.  It's a shame.  This will be one more rather iconic building with plate glass windows that will likely now be boarded over, much as the old Katz Drugstore's windows had to be boarded up so many years ago. So it goes, I guess.

You got a DUI? In Westport? On St. Pat's?

You gotta' be kidding me.

Westport checkpoint leads to 41 DUI arrests

Kansas City authorities arrested 41 persons suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol during a sobriety checkpoint held last night outside of Westport.

More than 800 vehicles were stopped during the checkpoint held between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. at 39th Street and Southwest Trafficway.

And you didn't maybe see that coming?

I'm sorry but you have to be some kinda' stupid to get picked up drunk driving in Westport, Kansas City, Missouri on St. Patrick's Day.

Link to original post:  http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/18/2734396/westport-checkpoint-leads-to-41.html

Just who, exactly, does this mayor get along and/or work with?

Remember the funny complaint teachers used to make about kids that we all joked about? The "doesn't get along with others" complaint? Yeah, that one. Doesn't it seem to apply especially well to this current mayor? Who, exactly, does this guy work with? I mean, unless it's some businessman (think Rex Sinquefeld) who throws money at him. Here's the latest: "...the mayor and police chief are butting heads on two major issues that could affect how well the department is funded and how its officers are disciplined. And this clash could threaten the future of the city’s quarter-cent public safety sales tax." So once again, this mayor is going against another authority in town, furthering the notion that he doesn't "work well with others" and jeopardizing the very tax he wants to see passed. The guy's a regular rocket scientist, as we know, right? Have a great weekend, y'all. Link to original post: Read more: http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/corwin-and-funkhouser-break/#ixzz0vBTHtbqP

Behold the common and ever-present coward and bully

The report this morning from The Kansas City Star is that all was well again last evening on the Plaza.

And of course it was.

Because that is precisely how the bully and the coward and the cowardly bully all operate--they pick on the smaller person, the more helpless, and, in this case, the unarmed, the defenseless and those who aren't expecting any trouble or that they should have to defend themselves on the Country Club Plaza on a mild, otherwise pleasant Saturday night.

Couple having coffee, as they stroll the area?

Knock the coffee out of their hands.

Potted planters to decorate the area?

Pick them up and break them into pieces.

etc., etc.

Cowards. Bullies, all.

So they knew there would be a big police presence on the Plaza last evening. I guessed that they'd not show precisely because of this cowardice and I was right.

But, knowing this is how bullies and cowards act, naturally we can't assume this has taken care of itself.

Chief Corwin and the KCMO Police Department will have to, at least for a while, if not forever, prepare themselves for any possible "flash mob" like this, in case they decide to converge again on a spot and on people and be the bullies and cowards they've shown themselves to be.

Sad, pitiful and tragic but true.

This is the reality we'll have to live in, at least for a while, if not permanently.

Fortunately, the police surely know this.

And now we wait for Saturday evening (or the next flash event)

If I were a restaurateur or restaurant manager of a Country Club Plaza establishment, I'd be coming up with all kinds of extremely lucrative specials for my clients--all my clients--for this Saturday evening, if possible.

That is, I would do that if I had already spoken with the Mayor, KCMO Police Chief Corwin and Highwoods Properties Management and Security, to see if there really is a new, strong, workable, viable plan for everything to be under control this Saturday evening.

It's going to be a peculiar, fascinating weekend, here in Kansas City, in a few days, I think.

Hopefully a quiet one.

Anarchy, chaos and intimidation for their own "entertainment" brought to you by the youth of Kansas City

What happened Saturday night, according to the Police's own log, taken from a link at Police Chief Corwin's blog, because we need to know what happened:

• Crowds began to gather in front of businesses, blocking the entrances and exits, and would not move. Officers were deployed on foot to move crowds.

• Traffic was at a standstill and traffic was requested to assist with traffic flow.

• Helicopter responded after numerous crowds began to run and numerous fight calls were received. He spent at least 3 hours overhead assisting officers with their movement and following the crowds.

• The Classic Cup, 301 West 47th was a central focus and had numerous large disturbances in front of the business. Several complaints were received from patrons at this location and their fear of being hurt.

• We responded to PF Changs to assist with clearing juveniles out of the restrooms. They were harassing customers and blocking the foyer of the business.

• During one of the large disturbances along 47th street a knife was located lying on the sidewalk in the middle of the crowd.

• As the juveniles were circling the Plaza they were grabbing flowers, flower pots, and damaging various greenery around the Plaza.

• A Plaza medic responded to treat a 16 year old girl who got run over by one of the stampedes. She had several abrasions but was not seriously hurt.

• Citizens were continually stopping officers and complaining of the crowds, that they were being pushed and shoved, and that the kids were trying to intimidate them.

• Plaza Security had to assist with walking patrons to their vehicles due to the number of request for escorts due to fear of their safety.

• The foot/traffic flow became so bad that the Horse and Buggy Operation had to close due to cancellations along with the inability to function.

• Every time there was interaction with any of the juveniles obscenities were flowing freely along with disrespect not only for authority but anyone they came into contact with.

• At approximately 2200 hours the situation was at a flash point and a mass exit of patrons was observed due to the disorder going on.

• As a couple exited the Cheesecake Factory, dressed in tuxedo and formal dress for prom, the female was shoved into the fountain by a group of juveniles who then ran and not apprehended.

• As the flash point hit officers had to deploy pepper spray to disperse the crowds to minimize injury to citizens. Numerous MK-46’s were emptied along with 12-13 MK-9’s being emptied to get the crowd to move.

• Numerous businesses contacted police in regards to wanting to make complaints. Also, citizens from out of town asked officers on several occasions if this was normal or stated they would not come back.

• In a parking garage at Nichols and Pennsylvania, a husband and wife were jumped by approximately 15 juveniles. They were assaulted and then the suspects took the husbands glasses and the wife’s purse.

Say, side note, where are you planning to have dinner Saturday night?

A couple notes on local government

Did you see or hear the story in the news about this guy, Clayton Dunlap, who had 16--that's sixteen--different charges from the past for driving while impaired, one way or another?

Yeah, sixteen times he drove while either drunk or high or something.

The previous one, before having just killed a 12-year-old boy and seriously injuring his Mother, was only last month. He had driven while high on PCP and lead the police on a high speed chase.

Did you see how long he stayed in jail for that? It was in the newspaper this morning, on the front page.

According to the Star "He served only a few days..."

Holy cow.

I'd love to find out who the rocket-scientist judge that was.

Great evaluation of character and danger to the society there, Judge.

Not.

So now, again, according to the Star "the county vows to do more to keep such drivers locked up."

Right.

I'll bet, don't you?

I'm not holding my breath.

Besides, the horse already left that corral.

Not that there aren't more instances where this can't apply but it's more than a little difficult to believe much will change.

As I so frequently say, here's hoping.

The other note: a small blurb in the paper from the "Around the Nation" column says that "Law enforcement officials in Newark, New Jersey say March was the city's first month without a killing in more than 40 years."

Quick, have the KCMO and KCK Police Departments get them on the phone immediately, at the very least.

Maybe it's worth someone from each staff going out and seeing what they're doing right and if we can apply any of it here.


Have a great weekend, y'all.