Homicides have been a major problem in the Kansas City area. From 2001-2009, there was a grand total 1,073 homicides. In the 2000 census, there was a total of 441,481 people. That is a very large amount of homicides. Since then, the KCPD has done a great amount of work to try to cut down this tally. This includes installing special units. The Southern part of East Zone outranks the other patrol zones. A very large amount of the these crimes were committed by gangs, most because of retaliation of other crimes. The violent crimes number did surprisingly go down though. The homicide rate is steadily going down throughout the Kansas City area. The aggravated assault rate is also going down between these years. 2014 was the year with the least number of homicides since the beginning of the police force. The rate of unsolved homicides is also extremely low. The grand total is 5 unsolved cases in 2015. Two of them are suspected to be the the same killer, as the victims were found in the same areas, and they were killed the same way. Gunshot wounds to the chest, and laid in the middle of sidewalks. The KCPD is doing extensive work to try to cut down the number of homicides, in hopes that 2016 will be less than 2015.
As of this date there have been 44 Chief’s of Police. As stated earlier, the current Chief of Police is Darryl Forté. He started his term on October 12, 2011. He oversees about 1400 police officers, 600 non-sworn staff, and serves nearly half a million people in a 319 square mile area. Fortè started with the KCPD in August 1985. Since then he has held every rank in the department. He has served in the Patrol, Investigations, Human Resources, and Budgeting.
Another Chief is Joseph D. McNamara. He began his law enforcement career with the NYPD. He became Chief of Police way back in 1973. He lead the department to discover many innovative ideas, and he kick started a couple of police programs. He served as Chief in the KCPD for 3 years, and then went left to become Chief in San Jose, California. He retired from all police duties in 1991. He is now a researcher at the Hoover Institution located at Stanford University in southern California.
Floyd D. Bartch was with the KCPD for 31 years. He was Chief for 3 years, (1996-1999). He brought fame to the department for his community efforts, which allowed officers to work closely with many communities.
Richard D. Easley was a native Kansas Citian. He grew up on the east side of Kansas City and eventually joined the KCPD in 1974. He then rose to the honor of Chief in North Patrol Division, and oversaw the creation of more than 50 neighborhood watch groups. He was also a longtime Chairman of the Board, and watched over the department's 600 million dollar retirement fund. He became Chief in 1999 and retired in early 2004.
James D. Corwin was with the KCPD for 32 years and was its Chief for 7, (2004-2011). He’s been known to have introduced advanced technology to the department, and emphasized officer training and professional development. For his efforts, the department training academy auditorium was named in his honor.