By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
November 11, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — During the summer, the Indian Mound Neighborhood experienced an uptick in crimes, notably homicides with at least seven homicides from late July through early September.

In October, Darryl Forté, Kansas City’s Chief of Police, met with area residents to hear about their concerns, but also suggest a few helpful tips for how residents can take back their neighborhood. One suggestion was to become more engaged in their community, and start a block watch program. Last month, the neighborhood association held their first block watch class, with nearly 40 residents from the community showing up to learn how to better protect their homes and community. Manny Abarca, secretary for the Indian Mound Neighborhood Association, highlighted the best part of that turnout was the high number of Spanish speaking individuals in the crowd.

“It was great to engage that portion of the community,” Abarca said.

Public Information Officer Jason Cooley led the presentation, stressing community awareness, while at the same time warning attendees not to judge others too quickly. He told the crowd that a proper design plan and an effective use of their environment can lead to reduction in fear and an improvement in the quality of life.

“The neighborhood has seen a lot of things happen, but there’s been a lot of positives just in the neighborhood association alone,” Cooley said.

Cooley gave the crowd several tips to be more aware, either by their home or our in the community. Homeowners can observe the 2 foot by 6 foot rule, which means landscaping shouldn’t be taller than two feet from the ground up and tree limbs shouldn’t hang longer than six feet. It’s also important to interact with your neighbors because Cooly said, “if I don’t know you, it’s easier for me not to care about you.”

After the meeting, Abarca said this was the first step to increasing community awareness. Although the next step is still in development, he’d like to host a few more block watch classes and engage those who signed up, before establishing a true block watch.

“Now that we have their contact information, we’ll get these people more involved in the neighborhood association and continue to work with them,” Abarca said.

Since the summer’s spike, crime has dipped in the Northeast area. Abarca attributes those declining numbers not just to the cold weather, but to the community’s direct engagement, pointing to recent neighborhood association meetings with people saying they’re sick of crime and more engagement with area law enforcement.

“And we’re not done,” Abarca said, adding they’re working on proactive solutions to prevent more crime from taking place. “We’re proving to criminals we’re not putting up with this anymore.”

After the meeting, Cooley told the crowd he provides free security surveys of homes that come with recommendations on how to strengthen one’s residence and can even devise a protection plan with you. If you’re interested in contacting Officer Cooley about a home security survey, you can email him at Jason.cooley@kcpd.org or call him at 816-482-8506.