Around prom season last year, a bunch of unruly, black teens -- yeah, I said it -- converged on the Country Club Plaza en masse. A pretty prom princess got tossed into a fountain. Teens disrespected Plaza foliage and yelled naughty things at adults. Traffic came to a standstill. One couple was assaulted and robbed in a parking garage. And lots of teenagers got blasted with pepper spray, courtesy of the Kansas City Police Department's Costco-sized canisters.
On his blog, KCPD Chief Jim Corwin stepped up and addressed threats of a repeat performance by placing responsibility where it belongs: with parents, and with the community.
get wet, Italian style.
Corwin writes, "The issue is rearing its head again, however, and many are coming to police looking for answers. But this is not a police issue. It is a community issue and a parenting issue."
It sounds like something Hillary Clinton might say. And in saying it, Corwin has been accused of shirking his responsibility. But when you
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think about it, the KCPD is looking at a lose-lose situation where
so-called "flash mobs" of kids are concerned.
They could respond to hoards of kids with riot gear and force. But according to the KCPD's own account of the incidents that occurred April 10, 2010, all of the really bad things (muggings, assaults, fountain dunkings) occurred after police arrived on the scene. That's not to say that the KCPD caused the mayhem, but their appearance -- and their already not-so-great relationship with young people on the East Side -- exacerbated the tension.
Not responding is not an option for the KCPD, obviously. And, Corwin notes, preventing it isn't their job, either. (It's not their mission "to sponsor activities for youth or ensure parents are supervising them properly," he writes.) But parents can prevent it (try calling your kid's cell phone once in a while?). And the community can begin to prevent it, but first we have to recognize flash mobs for what they are: groups of bored kids who have been alienated by their city.
The hoards of "ordinary" people who descend on the Plaza every day have pretended that the bad things that happen on the East Side aren't their problem. Well, those kids who acted out last year were sending the message that it is.
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By "you people" you mean the Black kids? Many years ago When there was a Wards Store in Ward Parkway shopping center I was in B. Daltins (The Store next to Wards)
I hear this Black Guy walk in & yell to his kid "Put down that damn book boy you is black N***as aint sposed to read!" Every white shopper in the store stopped & looked shocked a Black man much less a father would tell his kid that. Since them I've seem many blacks acting the stereotypes as if they was a badge of honor. You want this to end clean up your own community before demanding others clean theirs.
Gee I wonder why? Could it be that any entertainment spot in the hood is a magnet for Gang Shootings?
Screw the content of this article, and all your guys' arguing! Most importantly, I want to know where I can find a bigger version of the thumbnail on the upper right. The girl all the way to the right is givin' me a chub!
It takes a village ----- just a lame azz bullsht excuse. by the chief of police.
any excuse to get out of doing a job.
Bring in Joe Arpaio, lock the pukes up behind fences and let them live in tents for a couple weeks.
Where is the humorous alliteration describing the 16yr old still recovering from his broken jaw and head injury?
"Once on the ground, the group of teens kicked and stomped the victim, who told police that the next thing he remembers is being in the hospital.
"They just got me, they was popping me, stomping me, hitting me with poles, guns, and everything else," said the victim."
http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wda...
I guess it falls under the umbrella of the word "assault"?
Not necessarily saying that an arcade or a bowling alley (a not just-over-21-bowling alley!) is missing from "this area," the Plaza. By "the community," I actually mean the entire metro, and if anything (though you assumed oppositely) I mean ON THE EAST SIDE. But the fact that you jerked your knee and assumed otherwise is...telling.
I couldn't agree with you more and invite you to join many other Rockhurst students and the University itself in supporting the work of Nelson Hopkins and his Operation Promise Land project in the 49/64 neighborhoods around the University. OPL works with young people in the schols, residents in the nieghborhoods, and ex-offenders getting their lives back on track. I know Mr. Hopkins would appreciate your interest and help.
www.operationpromiselandkc.org
I can't believe we are still doing the east side/west side thing. It really annoys me and whoever wrote this blog just fed into the ignorance that has shaped this City. How about reaching out to the children of Kansas City. Not only east-side children but all children from different socio-economic backgrounds. How about unifying this city, so that way all children can have equal access to resources that are available.
Sincerely,
A pissed off student at Rockhurst University that has grown up on the east-side herself, and has broken through the stereotypes "you people" continue to feed.
I can't speak for the guest, either.. but I did see a study awhile back that showed that most white suburban folks get nervous when the nearby minority population reaches 11% (on average.. probably lower in the south). As the population increases they will abandon entirely.
Off topic, but I'm sure our friends at Cordish (running the power and light) know this -- and wrote their dress code to match.
I can't speak for Nadia, but I'd point out that the plaza really is an affordable place to live. I know several folks living there for under 700/month (including utilities). Walking distance to bus service, entertainment, employment, food, Library, and parks. Of course if you want to spend more, the sky is the limit, as they say.
As far as manufactured excuses for this "cultural situation" go, I don't see a reason to manufacture any. The actual root causes are manifold.
EDIT: Nadia, not peter. D'oh.
? You know all the folks in JOCO? Such a broad brushed statement - seems a little ironic..
You got pretty close to getting it right.. but missed on a couple of key points here. You are assuming an awful lot in saying the ordinary folks who visit the plaza think the issue is not their own.. How, in fact, do you know this? How many ordinary people on the plaza actually told you, in their own words, that they consider youth boredom and the subsequent violence, not their problem? By ordinary people, do you mean folks like me who visit the plaza but live across the state line 30 minutes away or the people who actually live around the plaza? You know the ones.. rich, wealthy, well-to-do, ordinary folks who are ..?? selfish??? Is that the implication here?
Is there just no end to the excuses we will manufacture to explain violent, criminal acts? How exactly does a city alienate youth? By establishing successful, high-end attractions like those found on the Plaza? What of those folks who enjoy a peaceful dinner or stroll on the Plaza after a long week at work? Must they forfeit that pleasure until the Plaza opens ..what? An arcade? A bowling alley? What is it that is missing from this area that would adequately satisfy these unruly youths enough that they would be so magnanimous as to allow 'ordinary' folks to enjoy the fruits of their labor?
Fist of all, it's getting right to the heart of the problem when you start by saying about describing a mob of mostly black teenagers as a mob of black teenagers. We've needed to have "THE CONVERSATION' between individuals and neighborhoods of different races for a long time in this city and not much is going to improve in the area of PUBLIC safety unless and until we do. Does it take a lot of guts to report and discuss facts?
And Chief Corwin didn't say it takes a village. He said it takes RESPONSIBLE PARENTS. And, we might add, it takes serious leadership in the black community to stop preaching the good old '60s stuff of victimization and entitlement instead of education, hard work, responsiblity, and achievement. Isn't there at least local Bill Cosby?
It's not the KCPD's job to supervise other people's children and it's not the taxpayers' job to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to find them some way to be amused.
Unless official KCMO, including the police, and the neighborhood leaders in the black community stop blaming each other and make serious efforts at building trust and collaboration in working innovatively to curb crime and violence in the city, it's only going to get worse.
And who are those others who will speak out about personal responsiblity instead of the tired old blame game?
Thinking carefully, I don't think there are any movie theaters on the east side. The closest ones are the plaza, downtown and Ward parkway mall (further south).
When I stop to think about it, there isn't really so much to do in that area, compared to midtown or suburban areas.
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