By Michael Bushnell
Northeast News

The Kansas City, Missouri Police Department has announced a new outreach initiative designed to increase engagement of the city’s Hispanic population.

During a briefing at Police Headquarters on Thursday, January 25, Community Interaction Officer Liaison Jason Cooley announced a plan to develop a Citizen’s Police Academy specifically for Spanish speakers.

“We want to make sure we’re reaching out to make sure we’re serving those who are underserved,” said Cooley. “Part of that is reaching out to the Spanish speaking communities and try to get them more involved at the community level.”

The pilot project introduced Hispanic community leaders on the city’s West Side to an abbreviated, two-night citizen’s police academy. Roughly 20 West Side neighborhood leaders attended the rollout, which was hosted by the Mexican Consulate. The neighborhood leaders are expected to provide feedback to the department in the development of a full blown Citizens Police Academy geared toward the city’s growing Hispanic population.

Desiree Colome of the city’s Mexican Consulate stressed the importance of the ongoing partnership with the Police Department.

“We’re very pleased to facilitate these meetings to develop new partnerships and outreach opportunities within the city’s Hispanic Communities,”  Colome said, who added that the city’s Mexican population had increased almost ten-fold in Kansas City over the past decade. “Outreach opportunities like this are greatly appreciated and we’re glad to see that authorities are responding to that population increase and taking action in order to serve that population better.”

During the initial meetings held on Monday and Tuesday of this week, Colome was happy to see trust being built between the Police Department and the Hispanic community.

“This is a challenge we all need to face together and it was really comforting to see the level of trust increase between the community and the police.”

Officer Jason Cooley stressed that this was early in the process and that more planning and development was on the horizon in the department’s efforts to make the program a reality.

“This isn’t an end game, this is an important first step and we’re excited about the additional outreach this opportunity will provide,” Cooley said.