Mayor Pro Tem talks solutions to gun violence

By Sara Wiercinski

On December 4, Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw spoke about gun violence at Holmeswood Baptist Church, the final event in the Cultivate speaker series.

Kansas City’s deadly gun problem became more real to Parks-Shaw back in 2019, after she joined the city council. “The biggest surprise was the murder notice list, which included details of how each person died,” said Parks-Shaw. “Those names represent lives lost, families broken, communities ripped apart.”

Fast forward to the end of 2023: Data from Kansas City Missouri Police Department reported 182 homicides during the year, the highest number in recent history.

“I thought, ‘I gotta do something,’ but I also knew we could not just arrest our way out of this.”

For several years city officials have looked to Omaha for inspiration, a city of comparable population that succeeded in reducing its violent crime using a comprehensive community strategy backed by significant funding. The nonprofit KC for Common Good initiated the movement here by bringing together community groups, residents, businesses, law enforcement and elected officials to work more closely together on a unified solution.

“In KC we had been working in silos. The left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing. East, west, up in the north–everyone had their own plans to fix the violence. Instead we needed collaboration. We are stronger and better together,” said Parks-Shaw.

A symposium in March 2024 brought together 500 stakeholders who produced a 42-page plan for reducing gun violence, known as KC United for Public Safety. The initiative is rooted in community based policing, neighborhood engagement, intervention and support for those reentering society after prison.

The goal is to reduce violent crime by 50% over five years. And there’s funding: Council agreed to allocate $30 million of its budget over that same time period, along with the addition of ⅓ of the city’s marijuana sales tax (estimated at $3-$10 million annually), to use toward violence prevention. 

Parks-Shaw says the city will look to philanthropic partners to help. While Omaha received $500 million from the state of Nebraska for its efforts, Parks-Shaw is doubtful Jefferson City will send state support. “But I’ll ask. We know we need significantly more money.”

Council is also working to appropriate funding to help KCPD more effectively analyze crime data. This can help understand trends, for instance identifying gang behavior. The city has seen a 45% reduction in unsolved homicides. “Police need to have the tools to help them,” said Parks-Shaw.

She encouraged Kansas Citians to spread the word about and attend KC Common Good’s weekly meeting, held every Thursday at 9 am at Rockhurst University. The sizable group has been meeting for two and a half years to discuss and assess violence prevention strategies. The meeting is open to all residents.

Parks-Shaw also wants to see mentors for city youth. She said that Kansas City Public Schools has hundreds of students who have requested reading tutors, but have not yet been matched. “There’s lots of opportunity to strengthen bonds with our youth. By working upstream a bit, we can reduce violent crimes in the future.”

The Mayor Pro Tem concluded with an appeal to citizens to advocate for resources. “The city has a $2.3 billion budget. It would help for more people to ask for more money to be used toward violence prevention.”

To date, Kansas City has 135 homicides for the year. 

“Right now, we’re sitting at a five-year low. These are still lives lost, there is still a lot of work to do. But there is hope.”

“It will take each of us working together to make KC a more just space.”

Holmeswood started the Cultivate speaker series to bring in experts around key issues, then to generate discussion about solutions. A group of attendees from the talk will meet on December 11 at The Borough for continued discussion about gun violence in Kansas City.