$160k grant given to help Kansas City's battle against violence

Photographer: Amy Hawley
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Posted: 01/31/2013

By: Steve Kaut

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A group that works to help troubled neighborhoods in the metro has donated $160,000 to the Kansas City Police Department's new anti-violence effort.

Officials with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation said they invested the money to help start the No Violence Alliance, which was announced Wednesday by local leaders and police officials.

"We care deeply about the safety and security of residents living in the urban core,'' Micah Kubic, LISC program officer, said in a news release. "That's why we are enthusiastically supporting this innovative approach that we believe will make a big difference in reducing violent crime.''

Mayor Sly James said the program will target the leaders of groups who commit most of the area's violent crimes.

Its first success: Officers arrested 17 people Tuesday after undercover SWAT teams conducted a sweep using new intelligence.

Three men arrested in that effort -- Albert G. Chase, 21; Reginald D. London Jr., 23; and Marlon L. McMilliam, 21 -- have been charged in the November 2012 murder of Willis Todd.