Downtown KC-MO's "Power & Light District" is slowly being overrun by crime- particularly (when I work) on weekends.
A well-publicized shooting 2 weekends ago- plus other sundry more minor assaults & robberies have plagued this area since early summer.
Center Zone patrol officers and MAST-EMS ambulances already handle dozens of calls there on any given weekend (personal documentation IS available).
In Wednesday morning's KANSAS CITY STAR- it's reported that the chairman & CEO of Cordish- the corporate entity that built the P&L with a HUGE check from city taxpayers- is "demanding a police show of force" in the P&L District.
Oh really? "Demanding?"
At whose expense should this police "show of force" be charged to?
The inner-city- where the crime/murder rate is highest?
Westport- where there's ALREADY a police "show of force" on weekends- yet has done nothing to slow crime & shootings- and a recent murder there?
How about these borderline-effective police sobriety checkpoints?
I imagine Cordish's "demands" will be met- seeing how corporate rules in the good-ole UCSA (see endless taxpayer bailouts).
Plus- the city can ill afford to jeopardize the $300-million taxpayer investment in the P&L District. That's be ANOTHER bill come due- at our expense.
Maybe the City can convince the governor to assign National Guard troops to Kansas City's party areas on weekends- so the KC-MO Police Dept. can try a little offense- rather than on the defensive of running from call to call until other areas of the city are sapped of police protection.
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