December 10, 2008
TWO-DAY OPERATION TARGETS NEIGHBORHOODS TO FIND MURDER, VIOLENT CRIME SUSPECTS
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department is leading a two-day push to ferret out and arrest those who have been involved in violent crime in Kansas City this year.
More than 150 investigators from KCPD and six federal law enforcement agencies will go door to door in four areas of the city to root out more than 100 people sought by the Kansas City Police Homicide Unit. These people are suspects, uncooperative witnesses or others with information on some of this year’s 45 unsolved homicides and other violent crimes. Investigators will specifically target 250 addresses. The four areas that will be canvassed comprise 2.6 percent of Kansas City’s land area but are responsible for nearly 39 percent of the city’s homicides.
The operation begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9, and will run through Wednesday afternoon or early evening, regardless of weather. It is part of Chief James Corwin’s commitment to reduce violent crime in Kansas City.
At a press conference August 30, 2008, Chief Corwin said he would assign additional resources to combat the city’s rising homicide rate. Since that time, KCPD’s Narcotics and Vice Division suspended all long-term investigations and began to focus all of its resources on violent crime. For the past four months, members of KCPD’s Drug Enforcement Unit, Career Criminal Squad, Street Narcotics Unit, Financial Investigations Section and Metro Meth Unit have been working behind the scenes with the Violent Crimes Division to identify and arrest some of the city’s most dangerous criminals. Now, all that work is coming to a head.
“The goal is to make a covert operation an overt operation,” said Captain Kevin O’Sullivan, commander of the Metro Meth Unit.
Captain O’Sullivan said police have been gathering intelligence and working with state and federal prosecutors over the past several months to ensure the best possible outcomes in violent criminal cases. They already have arrested, charged or gotten vital information from 70 people they sought. Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s canvass will seek more than 100 others.
Chief Corwin will announce the results of the two-day operation at a press conference that is tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Operation Command Post in the Scottish Rite Temple parking lot, 1330 Linwood Blvd.
Other federal agencies that will take part include: the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; U.S. Marshals Service; United States Postral Inspection Service; Drug Enforcment Agency; and Housing an Urban Development. The Jackson County Prosecutor's and U.S. Attorney's offices are also assisting in the operation.
