Northeast News
September 17, 2013

The U.S. Department of Justice is showing its support to the Kansas City No Violence Alliance (KC NoVA) and has awarded the organization a three-year $1 million grant to support violence reduction efforts.

“This is wonderful news for the KC NoVA effort,” said Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, a member of the KC NoVA governing board. “This will add to our arsenal to target violent crime by focusing police officers on the right people associated with violence on the streets.”

Kansas City Mayor Sly James called the grant “a huge win for KC NoVA, and it will go far in helping make our neighborhoods more safe.”

“Dedicating these resources to the Prospect Corridor will help return that area to the family-centered, vibrant place I remember from my childhood,” James added. “I’ve lived in Kansas City for my entire life and I know what great people, stories, and neighborhoods lie in the Prospect Corridor. This grant will help us roll up our sleeves and do more of the hard work required to make this area of our City shine.”

The grant for Kansas City will focus on an area bounded roughly by 25^th Street on the north, 39^th on the south and between Paseo and Benton boulevards. The area has one of the higher crime rates in the city. This new initiative will use KC NoVA’s focused-deterrence effort to decrease crime in that area by focusing on the small group of active, chronic offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of the violence there. In turn, this should catalyze economic development and improve the quality of life for residents.

The Office of Justice Program’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) announced this month it would award $12 million in Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grants to 14 locations, including Kansas City. No city received more than $1 million for the three-year grant period.

Several KC NoVA partners will receive funding besides the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, including the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission (fiscal agent for the initiative); the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology; the city of Kansas City’s Neighborhood Prosecution Program; and Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC).

The KC NoVA governing board launched its first efforts to reduce violence in Kansas City this year and hopes to show reductions in homicides and assaults in 2014. The program uses police intelligence to focus on the social networks of persons involved in violent crime. A variety of interventions are then aimed at those persons, from effective prosecution, including federal enforcement, as well as social services and other help for those attempting to turn their lives toward something more productive.