The Gregg/Klice Community Center was packed Tuesday night for the second Citizens Task Force on Violence meeting of the year.
Maj. Joe McHale, who commands the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department’s East Patrol Headquarters, spoke to residents concerned with the city’s ongoing violence and their safety.
"In East Patrol, we are dealing with a concentrated level of violence that is not seen in most cities in the United States,” McHale explained. "The national homicide rate is about 4.8 per 100,000. Kansas City's rate is about 22 per 100,000 people.”
Susie Evans lives in Johnson County but attended the meeting in KC.
“Every neighborhood needs to step up, everybody in the neighborhood, all the local churches, you know, we need volunteers, we need mentors,” she said.
She has a personal connection. Her son, Marc, was killed in March 2015.
"It's hard, it's really hard,” Evans said. "I can't talk to him anymore. I can't go out to lunch with him anymore."
McHale said 60 percent of the homicides are gang- or group-related. He believes community engagement is key.
"You have to have the support of the community for tips and to work with you, and if you don't have that support, you can see what happens when you don't have the support of the community," McHale said.
The next Citizens Task Force on Violence meeting is scheduled for March 8. It will be at the Gregg/Klice Community Center from 6 to 8 p.m.
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Lexi Sutter can be reached at alexandra.sutter@kshb.com.
