St. Louis, Kansas City see homicide rates drop sharply

The AssociatedPress

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Homicides in Missouri's two largest cities were down sharply last year, dropping about 24 percent in both Kansas City and St. Louis.

On the Kansas side of the state line in the Kansas City metro area, there was an even bigger decline, 31.25 percent, in Kansas City, Kan.

Homicides in Kansas City, Mo., totaled 87 in 2002, down from 114 the previous year and the lowest since the 77 homicides reported in 1972. In Kansas City, Kan., the number of homicides dropped from 64 in 2001 to 44 last year.

Another large Kansas City suburb, Independence, Mo., recorded six homicides in 2002, one more than in 2001.

The St. Louis homicide count for 2002 was 112, the lowest number in 36 years. St. Louis County recorded 40 homicides, three more than in 2001.

In Kansas City, police have been trying in recent years to work more closely with neighborhood groups in their effort to fight crime.

"I think the lower rate is due to good police work and the relationship police have with Move Up and other agencies in the community," said JT Brown of the community group Move Up.

Final national homicide statistics are not yet available, but for the first half of 2002 homicides rose 2.3 percent in America, according to the FBI.

Some cities saw steep increases, with Los Angeles up about 10 percent. New York City, however, was down with 575 homicides through Sunday, compared with 646 for 2001, although that tabulation does not include those killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The decline in Kansas City homicides mirrors what has happened in the past in other cities, criminologist James Alan Fox said. Large cities nationwide saw 30-year lows in homicides about three years ago, and that trend may just now be occurring in Kansas City, he said.

"Cities reach lows at different paces," said Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston.

Kansas City police officials partly credited the city's drop to two recent programs that focus on arresting violent criminals.

The first is a federal program launched in Kansas and Missouri in 1999 that has locked up more than 200 felons and recovered more than 400 weapons. The program charges gun-toting felons with federal firearms crimes that can carry mandatory minimum sentences of five years without parole.

The second program is the department's career criminal squad, which was formed in October 2001. The squad goes after the city's most violent repeat offenders and tries to catch them committing crimes.

The squad includes FBI agents and deputies from the U.S. Marshals Service. It has worked with the department's homicide unit to dismantle a large, violent drug-trafficking ring. Investigators believe the ring's members are responsible for at least 10 homicides in recent years.

Nine members of the ring have been indicted on federal drug and weapons charges and are in the federal custody. The investigation is ongoing.

Homicide Sgt. Dave Bernard said attention on the ring possibly prevented murders from occurring.

"Most of these individuals are the type who wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who stands in their way or competes with their criminal enterprise," Bernard said. "I believe the arrests did have an effect on the murder rate" in 2002.

Sgt. Eric Greenwell of the career criminal squad said his unit's success comes from its ability to be proactive.

"Our whole goal is to identify violent career criminals, target them and re-incarcerate them," he said.

Besides the large drug ring, Greenwell said his unit focused last year on arresting violent criminals who were selling guns illegally.

Kansas City, Kan., police credited programs in their city with lowering homicides. Capt. Mike Kobe pointed to community policing, crime prevention patrols, code enforcement, neighborhood cleanup and prosecuting felons in possession of firearms.

"We are now seeing the fruits of the programs we implemented a few years ago," Kobe said.