By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
December 28, 2011

Weary of watching criminals burglarize vacant properties without repercussions, Jason Cooley decided something needed to change. Instead of whining, he became proactive.

And that proactive attitude helped him earn the Meritorious Service Award Dec. 16 from the Kansas City Police Department.

Cooley, community interaction officer for East Patrol Zone, was instrumental in changing city policy regarding vacant properties and burglaries. Before the City Council approved City Ordinance 110440, the police department was rendered useless in addressing burglaries of vacant properties if the owner refused to cooperate.

Before the ordinance, police officers could not arrest a trespasser unless the owner pressed charges. Even if an officer witnessed an individual stealing items from a vacant property, the officer couldn’t make an arrest unless the owner pressed charges. That posed a problem since a number of vacant property owners are out-of-state or out-of-state banks.

“East Patrol has the highest stock of vacant homes and properties in the city and the crime wasn’t being addressed,” Cooley said. “In a criminal’s mind, if they’re getting away with something and they know there’s no consequences, then they become more bold and move on to other things.”

While attending a vacant properties conference in Cleveland, Ohio, last fall, Cooley learned about Cleveland’s ordinance to address vandalism and burglaries of vacant properties. Cleveland’s law makes the city the victim of the crimes, which allows the police officers to file charges against criminals for trespassing, vandalizing and burglarizing. Cooley thought the same concept could work in Kansas City and told his supervisor, Sgt. Cindy Cotterman, about the idea.

Together, they worked to promote adoption of a similar ordinance in Kansas City. Both Cotterman and Cooley received the Meritorious Service Award Dec. 16.

“I was very pleased,” Maj. Ronald Fletcher said of his crew earning the award. “It’s just another example of Jason looking for long-term solutions instead of just putting a band-aid on it.”

“It’s an honor,” Cooley said of the award. “I almost feel a little guilty to do something I love. It comes so easy for me to work for the community and then to turn around and be rewarded for it is just the cherry on top.”