Northeast News
January 20, 2016

Once upon a time in the early 1990’s, Kansas City’s Historic Northeast neighborhoods enjoyed an enhanced police presence that visibly lowered crime rates and brought the six area neighborhoods together for one common cause.

Under the leadership of Old Northeast Inc., the area’s designated community development umbrella, the Community Action Network concept centralized resources from the county prosecutor’s office, as well as the city’s Codes Department, along with two police officers who worked proactively in designated patrol areas. Sadly, that concept went away when the federal grant for the project was not renewed. This news-pooch thinks it’s high time to resurrect the concept and bring it back to Northeast, headquartered on Independence Avenue. Space for the officers, along with a designated codes inspector, could be easily found in any one of a number of vacant storefronts or even the up and coming Hardesty Renaissance project area where there’s plenty of vacant space.

This dog would be happy to dedicate the necessary space for weekly community meetings that were the norm at the CAN Center that spotlighted the problem areas in HNE and pointed the resources in that direction, often resolving problem properties and residents in hours and days rather than weeks or months. The time is right. It’s time for CAN to re-appear in Northeast. Tell ’em the Dog says so.