---
title: "Working Together to Change Kansas City"
type: "pdf"
year: "2001"
canonical: "/projects/607"
---

# Nomination for 

# Table of Contents

- [Nomination for](#nomination-for)
  - [Herman Goldstein Awardlfor Excellence In Problem Oriented Policing 2001](#herman-goldstein-awardlfor-excellence-in-problem-oriented-policing-2001)
- [Working together to change Kansas City  "Housing Projects"  to  "Housing Developments"](#working-together-to-change-kansas-city-housing-projects-to-housing-developments)
- [SCANNING](#scanning)
- [ANALYSIS](#analysis)
- [RESPONSE](#response)
- [ASSESSMENT](#assessment)
- [PART I CRIMES IN DEVELOPMENTS](#part-i-crimes-in-developments)
- [DRUG ARRESTS](#drug-arrests)
- [AGENCY AND OFFICER INFORMATION](#agency-and-officer-information)

## Herman Goldstein Awardlfor Excellence In Problem Oriented Policing 2001

P.O. dames Schriever and P.O. Steven Kendall
![img-0.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/01-32/img-0.jpeg)

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Chief of folice

# Working together to change Kansas City  "Housing Projects"  to  "Housing Developments" 

THE PROBLEM (scanning) - Public Housing Developments were controlled by drug dealing, crime and urban decay. Crime inside housing developments was higher than the surrounding community. Police response was reactive (ineffective) with no long term solutions. No defined role models or organized activities existed for area youth.

ANALYSIS - Residents felt like "prisoners" in their homes as outsiders (nonresidents) controlled developments. Housing Authority's unwillingness to correct problems and police being unable to reduce crime led residents to believe nothing could be done. In 1994, a survey conducted showed only $26 \%$ of residents felt the police were trustworthy and $28 \%$ of residents felt they had a good working relationship with police.

RESPONSE - Officers Schriever and Kendall teamed with residents to take back their community with a variety of problem solving approaches. Officers Schriever and Kendall approached each problem in three areas. \#1 The Past- what caused the problem, \#2 The Present - what efforts need to be taken to solve the problem and \#3 The Future what long term efforts need to be implemented to stop the problem from reoccurring. Abandoned buildings in the area were demolished, housing units were redesigned and police sub-stations were created to bring officers closer to the community they worked with. Officers Schriever and Kendall, to give youth positive role models, developed youth mentoring programs. Officers Schriever and Kendall worked with the Housing Authority to develop a Housing Authority Department of Public Safety. Officers Schriever and Kendall also worked with the surrounding neighborhoods to strengthen their community to avoid displacing crime. The Paseo Corridor Project was initiated by Officer Schriever, allowing businesses to come into the community to purchase and redevelop a historic living area next to a public housing development and to take over a liquor store that was a gathering area for criminal and illegal activity. Officers Schriever and Kendall also developed a database system which tracks police activity on all housing authority properties in Kansas City.

ASSESSMENT - Follow-up surveys and crime statistics show a constant decrease in criminal activity and an increase in community support since the problem solving projects were initiated by Officer Schriever and Officer Kendall. Part One crimes decreased from 331 in 1994 to 105 in 2000. All arrests decreased from 1,030 in 1997 to 280 in 2000. Drug arrests decreased from 57 in 1997 to 9 in 2000. Community support increased as a follow up survey in 2000 showed $100 \%$ of those that responded felt the police were trustworthy and $100 \%$ felt they had a good working relationship with police. Center Circle Inc., a police research and evaluation firm, further described the efforts as "effective problem solving, community oriented policing."

# SCANNING 

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department's Central Patrol Division, 120 sector, contained five housing developments (projects) located within one square mile of each other. Those five developments contained a total of 1,152 units, each providing living accommodations for one to ten people. Drug dealers, drug addicts and prostitutes controlled all of the housing developments. Almost all drugs deals were open-air street sales and many of the drug dealers and buyers were trespassing in order to make the transactions. The housing developments were considered the most dangerous living areas and provided some of the worst living conditions in the city. The developments were sometimes referred to as "housing of last resort." Crime, drug dealing and drug use were not the only problems. Abandoned houses, abandoned buildings and abandoned cars that surrounded the developments, excessive debris and easy access to a local liquor store, also contributed to the decay of the area. Lack of organized youth activities and outreach programs for the youth were also contributing factors.

The extent of the problem was demonstrated through extremely high Part One crime statistics, high arrest statistics, citizen surveys and resident advocates. Three officers, with one carrying a shotgun, were required to respond on calls for service within the housing developments instead of the one or two officers that policy normally dictated. This was due to the violence directed towards police officers and police equipment while on the developments. The violent crime rates and property crime rates were higher inside the housing developments than the surrounding neighborhoods. Police response was reactive and citizens complained that the ineffectiveness of police

actions left them feeling like prisoners in their own homes. This led to citizen apathy and a police attitude that the problems could never be improved.

# ANALYSIS 

Officer James Schriever has worked in the public housing developments since 1987 and Officer Steven Kendall started working in the developments in 1993. In 1997, the two officers were "teamed" together as the Housing Authority Patrol Unit and were assigned strictly to the five housing developments in Central Patrol Division, 120 Sector.

Officers Schriever and Kendall identified the problems through police experience and observation, crime statistics, citizen contacts, and citizen surveys listing the number one problem as open-air drug sales and threats of violence toward residents from the drug sellers. Physical intimidation (assaults, robberies), verbal threats, implied threats with the use of graffiti (tagging territories), and shooting guns in the air at all hours in a display of fire power, were tactics used by the criminal element. Drug dealers also shut electricity off to the units suspected of cooperating with authorities and shot out numerous streetlights to prevent witnesses from observing those involved and their activities. The drug sales and the lack of resistance by the public housing community brought many non-residents who were looking to sell or purchase narcotics. These trespassers also committed a majority of the violent crimes such as robberies, aggravated assaults and property crimes such as burglaries, auto thefts and stealing. In turn, the trespassers often found themselves being victims of murders, assaults, robberies and stealing. The efforts of the police department to send teams of officers to make mass arrests only served as a temporary quick fix with no long term solutions being implemented.

The community, the criminal element and some police officers did not believe that anyone could mount a successful effort to rid the housing developments of the drug sales, the related crimes and the urban decay. Again, the apathy of residents led to the attitude of nothing can be done and therefore their relationship with the police was very strained. This in turn made the work harder for Officers Schriever and Kendall as they began examining different problem solving solutions. A major problem identified by the officers was the design and living conditions of the developments. The design and decay of the housing developments contributed to the problem with common entry ways, staircases, and hallways that resembled mazes on some properties. Inadequate, missing or damaged lighting also fostered an environment for crime and illegal activity. Another major factor was the lack of communication between the Police Department and the K.C. Housing Authority, and the Housing Authority's unwillingness to take measures to correct these situations.

These problems had been going on for such a long period of time that the parties involved, drug dealers, trespassers, and residents (victims), assumed that it was never going to change. In fact, a survey conducted in 1994 revealed that only $26 \%$ percent of the residents felt the police were trustworthy and only $28 \%$ percent felt there were good working relations between the police and residents. Only $17 \%$ percent of the residents felt safe outside of their apartments and units. Many residents referred to it as modern day slavery or living in a prison as the criminal element controlled the development and the movement of the residents. Some residents told officers they never went outside or looked outside and some even slept on the floor or in the bathtub fearing a bullet might strike them.

With no other role models, the young children and teenagers looked up to the drug dealers as successful people in the community. The drug dealers had so much power over the residents, money, nice cars and expensive jewelry, that they replaced any other role models within the complexes. With no organized functions for the youth to participate and the lack of job skills or jobs available, everyone from youth to grandmothers became involved in the drug business as a way to survive. Officers Schriever and Kendall began to look at the causes for the situation, looking at each cause in three different ways: \#1 The Past-what caused the problem, \#2 The Present-what efforts need to be taken to correct the problem and \#3 The Future-what long term efforts need to be implemented to stop the problem from recurring.

# RESPONSE 

In 1991, residents of the Theron B. Watkins development organized to take on the Housing Authority and reclaim their neighborhood. In 1993, a major victory was won and the K.C. Housing Authority was placed under federal receivership with TAG Inc. from Boston Massachusetts, being selected as receiver by the federal court. The new Housing Authority started making immediate changes by working with residents and police on safety and security issues. Redevelopment of the properties to change what was once known as housing projects to housing developments began in 1995. The new K.C. Housing Authority started to make changes to the developments by spending approximately sixty five million dollars on the five properties. The first police substation was created at the Riverview Gardens property and officers assigned to the developments moved in. The authority and police started improving relations and working together to combat the negative elements. Common building entries were

eliminated so each unit would have a separate entry. Lighting was improved and properties were posted against trespassing.

A master trespassing list was formed by officers listing the offender's name, date of birth, race, sex, development they were given the warning on, date and time the warning was given and the name of the officer who gave the warning. In 1997, Officers Schriever and Kendall instituted a zero tolerance policy towards offenders on Housing Authority Property. Officers patrolled the properties by marked police vehicle, bicycle and foot patrols. Officers developed and distributed flyers to inform residents and the criminal element of the zero tolerance approach. Officers set up meetings with city prosecutors and developed a program where all arrests in and around the public housing developments would receive the maximum bond, maximum fine and jail sentence.

Officers Schriever and Kendall developed signs to warn possible offenders the area ${ }^{\text {w a s }}$ zoned zero tolerance against loitering, trespassing, alcohol consumption, sleeping on sidewalks and drug or prostitution activity. Photographs were taken of all arrests and subjects involved in the criminal activity and a mug book was developed. This mug book proved valuable on many occasions as it was used to identify numerous murder, rape, robbery, prostitutes and drug-dealing suspects for other units on the police department. During the first year of the zero tolerance, aggressive enforcement, Officers Schriever and Kendall made 1,030 arrests and assisted the Housing Authority with 44 drug and criminal evictions.

The two officers knew to be successful, they had to obtain the trust and assistance of residents. Officers became available to residents with the use of pagers, cell phones and a confidential crime and drug hotline on a 24 -hour basis.

Officers Schriever and Kendall initiated projects to alleviate the area decay by organizing area clean ups, organizing towing and tracking of abandoned autos and aggressively attacking the abandoned houses and buildings in the immediate area. Thirty properties were initially targeted on this project. Officers Schriever and Kendall visited each abandoned property and found them to be a safehaven for prostitution and drug activity. They photographed the properties and built case files that were presented to the city's Dangerous Building Section and area city councilpersons. Local Kansas City news stations assisted their efforts with positive news stories. As a result of their efforts, the initial abandoned building demolition project that included 30 buildings ended in 2000 when the last building was demolished.

They continued to work with upper management of the Housing Authority and assisted with the formation of the Housing Authority Department of Public Safety. The D.P.S. consists of four, law enforcement trained investigators and is directed by Harry Pottinger, a retired major of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. The K.C.P.D. Housing Patrol (Officers Schriever and Kendall) and the Housing Department of Public Safety formed a team to combat safety and security problems on Housing Authority property. The formation allowed the officers to spend more time on the street as the D.P.S. handled many tasks once handled by the police officers. The K.C.P.D. Housing Patrol and Housing D.P.S. have adjoining office areas and the two units work as one. Backgrounds of potential residents, investigations and evictions in accordance with the federal "One Strike" provision were strictly enforced by the officers and Housing D.P.S. Since 1998, 474 criminal cases have been investigated, 408 evictions have been initiated and served and 20,480 background checks with 3,158 denials have been conducted. The

two units have also teamed on numerous checkpoints, organized sweeps, reverse stings and search warrants with assistance of the Street Narcotics Unit, as well as, area clean ups and community police functions. Officers and D.P.S investigators teamed to form a project to stop the drug dealers from shutting off the electricity to units. The investigation proved the electrical boxes to have a design flaw and officers submitted the findings to housing staff and requested locks to be placed on the boxes. After the locks were in place, officers have not received a single complaint about electricity being shut off to the units.

The two units also formed safety committees on each of the developments, which allow residents to sit down with officers and investigators to discuss safety and security issues and develop solutions. The safety committees meet monthly and allow the residents to become part of the problem solving efforts as well as receive updates on previously reported problems. In 2000, The K.C. Housing D.P.S. hired the services of Center Circle, Sally Schwyn and Leroy Shields to evaluate the PHDEP (Public Housing Drug Elimination Program) fund program at the K.C. Housing Authority. The evaluators described their efforts as, "A strong commitment within the housing authority to foster relationships among the residents, the housing owner and management, law enforcement agencies, and other community groups affecting the developments to eliminate drug and criminal activity in and around the sites and to make them safe and secure to live and raise families." Further findings state," The fact that Part One crime is down consistently over the last few years speaks to the effectiveness of the HAKC'S Public Safety Department's proactive problem solving community oriented policing

approach in a collaborative manner with the HAKC management staff, KCPD, other Iaw enforcement agencies and the residents of the H.A.K.C."

Another area Officers Schriever and Kendall approached was the distrust and lack of organized events for the youth and teens of public housing. During the aggressive enforcement, numerous youth would hear stories of police brutality or police being crooked from the criminal element who were trying to hold onto their territory. Officers further observed youth taking part in the criminal activities due to no organized activities or positive role models. In 1998, Officers Schriever and Kendall contacted the 4-H and Heart of America Youth Services, who were starting to implement programs on housing property, and teamed with them to form a youth mentoring group on each of the sites. These "Rap" sessions, as they were called, allowed youth to know the officers and break down communication barriers. Life skills, personal issues and police issues were discussed during the twice-weekly sessions. Youth were taken on field trips such as baseball camps, Imax Theatre, arcades, professional football games and college campuses with officers, in an effort to break down the uniform barrier and allow the youth to see officers as citizens. The "Rap" sessions proved productive as Officers Schriever and Kendall were asked by neighboring properties to expand the program to their properties. The director of the 4-H programs also contacted the police department and requested the program be duplicated in other areas of the city. The police officers became the positive role models for the youth instead of the local drug dealer.

The popularity of the program left officers in search of additional funding to expand programming and life skills training. Officer Schriever petitioned the Safe Neighborhood Grant and received funding to purchase eighteen life skills and anti-drug

video programs. The Safe Neighborhood Grant also funded the purchase of video equipment (TV, VCR and camera equipment) to assist in the youth mentoring and the documentation of the targeted abandoned buildings. Officer Schriever also sought and received funding from the Paseo West Neighborhood Association to purchase Ident-aKid packets to photograph and record youth information to be given to police in case of a lost or abducted juvenile.

In 1998, the K.C.P.D. Housing Patrol and the Boys and Girls Club of K.C. were contacted by The Milton Eisenhower Foundation to initiate a police mentoring program with a \$250,000 grant. The mentoring sessions consist of life skills, character building, drug resistance, homework assistance labs, open gym activities and officers cooking for the youth on special occasions. Officers also assist with the Keystone Group, which is a nationally recognized program focused on teaching teens leadership skills. The youth mentoring sessions have saved numerous youth from the streets and provide organized sessions for the youth to participate. Youth who once lived a life of crime and drug sales now come to the CIymer Center Safehaven and interact with police daily. During a mentoring session with African American teen males who grew up in the urban core, each was asked who were their role models. One teen responded with "Officer Schriever and Kendall are my role models." Teens and youth that attend the mentoring sessions are now focusing on jobs and careers with the police department. Officers assist the youth with employment applications and serve as references. Officer Schriever also initiated The Eisenhower News team. This news team creates news stories and officers film and edit the footage to produce a final video that is played at the Clymer Center. Officer Schriever is currently working on a Youth Anti-Violence Park

across from the Theron B. Watkins development in honor of the youth.

Information was also gained during the sessions about the hazards of school children crossing the road at the Riverview complex. The investigation proved a high rate of speeding motorists accompanied by the parking of cars that blocked the vision for youth and motorists, created a dangerous intersection that children had to cross to get to school. Officers Schriever and Kendall initiated the assistance of the K.C. Public Works Traffic Division to properly post the speed limit and post no parking signs within 100 feet of the intersection. The measures were taken to increase vision for motorists and youth and to slow passing vehicles. Officers Schriever and Kendall then conducted speed enforcement, as well as notifying the K.C.P.D. Traffic Complaint section that also conducted speed enforcement.

Another area the officers concentrated was in tracking data and police activity on public housing properties. Officers Schriever and Kendall developed a Housing Authority Database System, in cooperation with Dianne Morrison of the K.C.P.D. Computer Systems Section. This database records police activity on all housing authority properties in the Kansas City area on a 24-hour basis. This database is used to track potential problem locations or problem residents. Many other problem solvingcommunity police activities were initiated, some included the Club anti-car theft device and gun trigger lock give away. Officers carry a supply of each in the trunk of their police vehicle to give away to the residents as needed.

Officers Schriever and Kendall also empowered the area residents to stand-up and take back their communities so the police efforts on public housing properties would not be displaced to surrounding communities. This effort turned into a large-scale project

known as the Paseo Corridor. As the teamwork grew, the group applied for and received a grant from H.U.D. for $\$ 250,000$ to combat crime and improve living conditions in the designated area. Numerous success stories came from this community police project which include The Legacy Residential Group purchasing numerous crime ridden historic buildings across from the Theron B. Watkins Development and restoring them to managed affordable housing. The Legacy Group also spent numerous hours and dollars in a successful take over of a local liquor store that was a breeding ground for criminal and drug activity. The Paseo Corridor was also instrumental in getting three local motels in the immediate housing area to redevelop their properties and focus towards legitimate business. The Paseo Corridor group lobbied the city council and changed the rent- by- hour rooms in these hotels that also bred drug and prostitution activity. Officers further joined forces with neighborhoods that surrounded public housing and a partnership with the Columbus Park Neighborhood was established. This partnership is special due to the fact that Columbus Park took legal actions against the Housing Authority to prevent redevelopment due to their previous problems and unwillingness to correct them. Now officers work with the Columbus Park Neighborhood to strengthen the community and update them on housing issues. Officers Schriever, Kendall and Director Pottinger also designed a second police substation in the Columbus Park-Guinotte community to enhance police visibility in the area.

# ASSESSMENT 

As the trust and cooperation from the residents and the initiated projects became operational, officers, residents and housing officials noticed the tremendous decrease in

part one crimes, arrests and illegal activity. In 1994, 331 Part One crimes occurred on housing property. In 2000, that number was reduced to 105 .

# PART I CRIMES IN DEVELOPMENTS 

CHOUTEAU - GUINOTTE - RIVERVIEW - THERON B. WATKINS - WAYNE MINER - (7952 UNITS)
![img-1.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/01-32/img-1.jpeg)

In 1997 when the zero tolerance arrest policy was initiated, 1,030 arrests were made by Officers Schriever and Kendall. In 2000, the same officers made only 280 arrests.

Arrests in Public Housing by Officers Schriever and Kendall

| 1.997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- |
| 1030 | 1033 | 402 | 280 |

Narcotics recovery by Officers Schriever and Kendall showed a dramatic decrease. In 1997, the officers recovered 97.6 g of cocaine and 43.1 g of marijuana. In 2000, officers recovered 10 g of cocaine and 8.5 g of marijuana. Drug arrests also

declined. In 1997, Officers Schriever and Kendall made 57 drug arrests on housing property. In 2000, there were only 9 arrests.

# DRUG ARRESTS 

![img-2.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/01-32/img-2.jpeg)

In the late 1980's and early 1990's, three officers, one armed with a shotgun responded to calls in the developments. Today, officers are able to follow standard police policy with one or two officers responding to the call.

Different forms of evaluation were used to evaluate the past programs that were initiated. The decrease in Part One crimes, decrease in drug arrests, decrease in recovered narcotics, and the decrease in total arrests were statistical forms of evaluation that showed the officers' efforts were making an impact. Resident opinion and positive statements are a valuable tool as well. On different occasions, Officers Schriever and Kendall would encounter previous residents or subjects who had been arrested during the initial zero tolerance enforcement and had been sentenced to prison. An example involved a subject who was sentenced to prison for an aggravated assault on housing property in the early 1990's. The subject was released in 1999 and responded to the Riverview development, which was his old "Hood." The subject asked officers "What

did you do with the projects? These ain't no projects, they look like houses." Officers made further contact with subjects in the justice system who told us the "word" in the jail was not to go back to "The Projects" because there was too much "Heat"(police enforcement and resident participation). Resident surveys in 1994 showed only 26\% felt the police were trustworthy and $28 \%$ felt residents had a good working relationship with police. Today, follow-up surveys show $100 \%$ of the people who responded stated they felt the police were trustworthy and $100 \%$ felt they had a good working relationship with police and felt safe outside of their building. A study conducted by 4-H, A.S.A.P. (After School Assistance Program) in 1996 showed a $90 \%$ drop out rate for public housing youth and those attending school averaged two days a week. The study further showed a $0 \%$ participation in continued education. In 2000, a follow up survey showed school attendance doubled and eleven youth have entered college. Each of those were the first in their families to do so. The 4-H A.S.A.P. evaluation also showed during 1997 - 2000 no 4-H teen or youth were involved in court activities and the teen pregnancy rate for the 4-H teens was $4.5 \%$ compared to $9.4 \%$ in the general community. The Center Circle evaluation further stated, "The consultant saw and heard of many wonderful programs and activities and observed the youth eagerly signing up to participate in a variety of summer programs. The youth programs serve as crime and drug prevention strategies that provide alternatives to negative idle time and criminal behavior." Outside evaluators, such as Center Circle made positive comments on the police efforts, as did HUD officials from Washington D.C., who requested a copy of a news video detailing our efforts while on a site tour. Teams from troubled housing projects from across the nation also contacted the officers and requested copies of the problem solving efforts.

Out of state newspapers were told of the officers efforts and sent reporters to cover the positive stories as well as numerous local newspaper and television clips. In 1994, the K.C. Housing Authority was declared a troubled agency. With many years of hard work from police, management, and residents, the K.C. Housing Authority is now designated a high performer.

As previously stated, during the initial analysis of the problem, officers looked at the problem from the past, present and future. The past is behind and is to be used as a learning experience. The present is the efforts currently in place and the future allows us to develop programs to continue the decrease in crime and criminal activity as we work together to change "Housing Projects" to enjoyable, safe "Housing Developments."

# AGENCY AND OFFICER INFORMATION 

The problem solving efforts were initiated by Officers James Schriever, a 15-year veteran and Officer Steven Kendall an 11-year veteran of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. Although the two officers initiated this problem solving effort, their efforts were encouraged and strongly supported by the command staff on the department. Both officers received training on problem oriented policing during the academy, as well as during yearly in service training. Officers Schriever and Kendall also received POP training from the Newport News, Virginia Police Department, gun abatement training in Washington D.C. and "One Strike" training from H.U.D. Both Officers further received youth mentoring training provided by The Milton Eisenhower Foundation. Officers received problem solving books and materials to review that included Herman Goldstein's problem oriented policing. Officer Schriever gave a tour to Dr. George Kelling (author of "Fixing Broken Windows") and discussed the past success and future

goals. Officer Schriever had also initiated previous problem solving efforts on a smaller scale. Officers on the Kansas City Missouri Police Department are evaluated on their problem solving efforts and not on statistics alone. Both Officers Schriever and Kendall donated many off duty hours and personal money to purchase supplies and provide activities so the project would be successful.

For further information you may contact;
Officer James Schriever
Kansas City Missouri Police Department Housing Patrol Unit
1200E. Linwood
K.C. Mo. 64155

Phone \#816-842-7665
Fax\# 816-221-4209
Pager\# 816-346-3891