KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Just days before a shooting in Downtown Kansas City left two people dead and three others injured, Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced legislation to increase security at the place where the shooting occurred, a surface parking lot.
Mayor Lucas says another shooting at 13th Street and Grand Boulevard started the process.
“I had conversations with business owners nearby, others on the downtown council, and I think we recognized it was a problem,” he said.
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The ordinance would require permits for owners to operate a surface lot. The permit requires owners to have a fence around the property, gates at entrances and exits, security cameras and functional lighting.
“These are preventable incidents,” Lucas said on Sunday.
“And in the same way that we look to crime prevention through environmental design, as simple as locking our doors, putting on exterior lighting, we need these types of places where there are consistent problems like this, consistent shooting activity, to make sure they’re doing their part.”
Lucas says that he notices that at parking lots that have those features, he sees a lot less criminal activity, noting that other lots near 13th and Grand aren’t seeing the same issues.
“I tell you what, if there was a gate on that parking lot and people had to pay to be in there, if there were some sort of security patrols saying get the heck out, you probably wouldn’t have a congregation of people that were hanging out. It’s not 100%, it’s not failsafe, but it’s a start,” he said.
Lucas also says he hears the response from citizens on social media, who are concerned about the amount of violent crime.
“Some people are saying, well, KCPD knows about burnouts that happen in that lot. KCPD may know about shootings. It’s not their job to be private security for every parking lot owner in Kansas City,” he said.
“People are saying, ‘You think parking lots or the reason for this?’ No, not necessarily. But any place that breeds crime and breeds harm for people you protect, right?”
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While Lucas noted that some on social media are calling for a larger law enforcement presence, or even the National Guard to come to Kansas City, he says he’s doing what’s within his power to address crime.
“The city runs its laws, and the city runs its policies. And if there are policies out there, such as crime prevention through environmental design, that gives us some steps to saving lives and our community, I owe it to the people of Kansas City to pursue it. Our number one role in government, even with the bizarre state control of the police, are all the disparate ways we make it harder to do in Kansas City, our number one goal is to keep people safe.”
The ordinance is set to be introduced in the city council on September 9.
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