SAVE KC’s offer: Put down the guns and leave crime behind, and we’ll help you succeed | Opinion
This week, for the first time in half a decade, we — the city, law enforcement, the Jackson County prosecutor’s office and community service providers — sat at the table with those driving Kansas City’s crime, giving them an ultimatum: Put down the guns and leave behind crime, and we will help you obtain the resources to get your life back on track to succeed.
Or, you will face the full consequences of the law, with swift and certain consequences.
The meeting, the first of many, is part of Kansas City government’s focused deterrence strategy Stand Against Violence — SAVE KC — to save lives. Participants include those associated with violence who consistently encounter police and those who are high-risk or prone to committing retaliatory violent crime based on their proximity to violent incidents.
Our message: We want to see each one of you leave behind crime and go on to live a successful life with your families, friends, community and everyone you love. We are here to help you, but if you won’t let us, we will stop you. The choice is yours alone.
Focused deterrence efforts have worked in several American cities, including Baltimore, Cincinnati and Detroit. Kansas City even implemented a different focused deterrence effort, KC NOVA, in 2014, which reduced the city’s homicide and shooting totals to historically low levels, but it used more punitive strategies, which were not sustainable long-term.
On the other hand, SAVE KC is an enhanced focused deterrence model, using new efforts to infuse restorative practices responding to the needs of the participant, helping them change their ways, while holding them accountable — without doing more harm. We must intervene before we have no choice but to put them in handcuffs and send them away to prison or before they end up dead or put someone else’s life in danger. SAVE KC is how we get to the root of the issue, providing an alternative path away from crime and violence and toward the support and resources needed to reach a successful future.
A vital aspect of SAVE KC is involving community members with lived experiences. During last week’s meeting, participants heard stories of former criminals who turned their life around, explaining how and why they left behind their path of violence and crime. They heard stories from victims impacted by violent crimes — family members of murdered victims, victims who survived shootings, but whose lives changed forever because of their injuries.
They also heard from service providers about the resources available for them and their families. A key part of focused deterrence is understanding that when people have their needs met — including housing, well-paying jobs, education and other resources — they are less likely to engage in risky or violent behavior. It’s why at our first meeting we offered job training and placement, GED courses, counseling, emergency assistance, housing assistance, witness protection and other resources to help them and their families.
So, why are we doing this? Why now? Violence has reached epidemic levels in Kansas City. We are using every tool in our toolbox to save lives. No one wants to attend the funeral of another child. No one wants to work the scene of another mass shooting. No one wants to bury another police officer.
It’s why you see us, Kansas City’s leaders, collaborating and exploring new, proven ways to save lives. Reducing violence is not simple and there is no one solution. It’s difficult to convince those involved in violence there’s an alternative path, a better way. But we’ve seen in city after city that the only certain way to achieve our goal is to work together.
SAVE KC will continue to hold meetings regularly, bringing together groups of participants from our community we identify as high risk for committing violent crime. Each participant will receive regular follow-ups from our service providers to ensure they continue to stay on a successful path forward with the support they need.
As we continue to host SAVE KC meetings, we will evaluate where we’re improving and where we need to keep working. In fact, we contracted with an academic researcher to help us ensure we are making data-informed decisions for improvement. We are looking forward to sharing more in the weeks ahead.
We have a long way to go before we will be able to say we’re healing. But our journey is underway and we’re proud to say we are in it together. Any success, even small, is a life saved.
Quinton Lucas is mayor of Kansas City. Stacey Graves is chief of the Kansas City Police Department. Jean Peters Baker is Jackson County prosecutor.
