The Kansas City Police Department and the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office were awarded a federal grant totaling more than $1 million.
The Smart Policing Initiative will give $700,000 to KCPD and $400,000 to the prosecutor’s office over the next three years.
Police told 41 Action News the money will help with its hot spot policing efforts. The department will use it to develop intervention strategies and offer more social services to people in the city’s most crime-ridden areas.
“It’s badly needed, I think we need it a lot. Because they see Kansas City doing the work, but we do have some struggle areas that we need to work on,” said Latrice Murray, who lost her 17-year-old son in a drive-by shooting.
Pastor Cassandra Wainright, who is a part of the Concerned Clergy Coalition of Kansas City, believes intervention is necessary.
“Yes, we need police targeting, we need body cameras, all of that, all of the equipment, but we also need viable partnerships in our community,” Wainright said. "We're in such a terrible place, we need interventions, and we need more than what a church or one community organization can do."
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Lexi Sutter can be reached at lexi.sutter@kshb.com.
