Our Brokers are both graduates of the Kansas City Crime-Free Drug-Free Multi-Housing Program with theKansas City Police Department. They have also graduated from of the Kansas City Citizens Police Academy.

What does that mean to you?... they are both certified in drug recognition. If we would like to have a tenant who is involved in drug traffic evicted, our testimony is usually all that is required. We can both testify to the presence of drug paraphernalia or even the smell of narcotics in the unit.

Our applicant processing procedures are based largely on what we have learned in these classes and nearly 30 years of property management.

Over the years sponsored the training of many staff and employees in drug recognition, the crime free multi-housing program.

We have tested this procedure and successfully evicted a tenant who was involved in drug sales. Fortunately we were able to work with the KCPD and the Prosecutors to convince the judge that it was in the best interest of the community. Furthermore we were able to get this drug-dealing, problem tenant removed form the Section-8 subsidy she was receiving.

With the assistance of the City and law enforcement we anticipate big changes in this area!

It matters not, what area you live in or the income statistics for your neighborhood. Drugs are everywhere! It is our goal to provide quality housing to people who are law abiding. We make every effort to screen prospective renters for criminal convictions. If we are aware of any illegal activity in any property we manage we will take whatever legal action necessary to remedy the situation.

Any hint of illegal drugs that we find in any property will be reported to law enforcement. Evidence of trafficing or narcotics sales, manufacture or distribution will be dealt with harshly.

Drugs bring crime, criminals do drugs. Allowing illegal drug use in our neighborhoods will only degrade the property values, bring crime to the neighborhood and create problems for the community.

Better management, better screening, better quality tenants.

What is the root cause of Kansas City crime, and what can be done to stop the violent trend?  Since 1990 I have lived and worked in Kansas City, in that time I have been the victim of numerous crimes. The odd thing is the perpetrators of these crimes never went to jail! Arson, burglary, theft, forgery, etc.

That is the underlying cause of Kansas Cities' violent crime spree. Having worked in the suburbs and also in the inner city, I see that most residents in the suburban neighborhoods have a cavalier attitude toward crime, that stuff happens to other people... I live in a "nice Neighborhood". The scary truth is you are anything but safe. Criminals have cars, what's more, criminals steal cars, and they can come visit your neighborhood anytime they wish. 

I bet you think that if a criminal gets caught in a stolen car he will go to jail! Wrong! A criminal driving a stolen car... your stolen car, will be charged with auto tampering. That is the same charge I would get if I keyed your new paint job. You see the criminals know all they have to do is say I didn't steal it, some guy let me drive it.

The same applies to most other crime in Kansas City. I have had drug dealers arrested inside a vacant apartment that they had broken into to sell crack cocaine out of. During the arrest they were found to have huge quantities of drugs and drug paraphernalia. They were not charged with drug dealing, not breaking and entering, not possession of a controlled substance, not even disorderly conduct. No! They were charged with trespassing! That's right, trespassing. 

Every crack head and crack dealer I have had arrested in the past decade or more has been charged with trespassing. The most common sentence for this offense was a 30 day SIS. SIS is suspended imposition of sentence. They never went to jail! But wait there is more! If they are a resident in one of my properties, they can not even be charged with that because they live there.

Why? You ask, because if they had to jail all the crack dealers, pimps, prostitutes, crack-heads, car thieves, burglars and shoplifters there would be no room for people like you for not mowing your yard or driving while drunk! You see they have to pay to keep those people locked up. They simply do not have the jail space. But you! You see, you will pay if you get fined for not mowing your grass. You will pay if you want to get your license back. You will pay if you drive 37 in a 25.

It's all about revenue; Jackson County and Kansas City don't want to pay for it. If the crack dealer doesn't go to jail for his crimes, and the thief doesn't go to jail for his crimes then he just graduates to a higher level of criminal activity until finally he kills someone and the State has to house him and feed him.

We need Jails and Cops not arenas and arts. It is no longer just revenue it's lives at stake here. Tell your elected officials we want more jail space!

Kansas City Crime Blog This is a blog I created because the filtered version of the news at Crime Scene KC is just not doing it anymore.

Kansas City continues to make the most dangerous cities in the nation as reported by MorganQuinto

KC made 16th most dangerous but the numbers are skewed! A wide variety of crimes go unreported. Most calls for service by the P.D. never even hit paper. The Police are far to busy to fill out a report for every call they make.

Kansas City has a huge epidemic of property crimes but most never get reported. Why? If I call in and report that your copper plumbing or air conditioner was stolen nothing will happen, nothing good anyway. 

Your insurance will likely not pay, because the house was vacant.

Your premiums will increase or your insurance will be cancelled.

Your deductbale is higher than the damage.

The Police will not investigate, the prosecutors will not prosecute.

Your property values will decline because of the increase in reported crime.

Crime is absolutely out of control in KC and no-one wants to address it. Instead our new mayor wants to punish landlords. Funkhouser has proposed landlord licensing. While the thugs are steailing our HVAC systems and our plumbing Mark Funkhouser thinks we should impose yet another tax on landlords.

City Ratings

KCPD has crime maps and crime statistics on it's web site. If you are thinking of buying a property in KC... Please view the crime maps!

Here's a newer map showing crime in KC http://crime.kansascity.com/

Update, 2007 Sanders, Graves seek regional jail By KEVIN MURPHY The Kansas City StarJackson County should explore building a regional jail for inmates of the county and its municipalities, County Executive Mike Sanders said Monday.

Sanders and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves toured the Jackson County Detention Center in downtown Kansas City, which Sanders said is often stretched to capacity.

Sanders proposed a jail with up to 2,500 beds. He said it also could be used to house some prisoners of Kansas City and other cities in the county that now have crowded jails.

“Clearly, lack of needed inmate space is one of the major public safety issues this community faces every day,” Sanders said.

Sanders said the county could seek federal grants for the project and could also house federal prisoners on a reimbursable basis. The county would continue to operate the downtown jail, Sanders said.

Graves, a Republican representing northwest Missouri and part of Jackson County, said he would help in the effort to find some money to move forward on a regional jail.

“It’s something we have all been throwing around for many years now,” Graves said.

Sanders said there are several potential locations, though he would not be more specific. He did not estimate the cost of a new jail but said he would not want to raise taxes to build it. Sanders said revenue bonds, paid off with income the county gets from cities and the federal government, could help pay for the project.

Finally, there is at least talk of doing something! No doubt Kay Barnes will try to take credit for it. This would be the first positive thing Sanders has been involved in yet. I have many police officer friends and frankly, I do not know how they stand to do their job. Arresting the same people every night to see them released the same day has to be frustrating.

_ What do you consider a good neighborhood to be? The answer to that question may differ depending on your background, your street smarts and your economic status.

 According to MorganQuinto :

Kansas City, MO recently had the dubious distinction of being rated the 16th most violent city in the nation. A few miles east, Lee's Summit had the honor of making the list for being one of the safest.

I’ve lived in some rough and ready environments, fortunately I have learned some street smarts and I know what to avoid and how to act.

But the law says we cannot comment on the nature of a neighborhood or the content of that areas social or environmental makeup. What you consider to be a “safe neighborhood” may not be what someone else agrees with.

How do we answer this often posed question? When I was just learning the ropes of property management I often lived on-sight. I would just say well, I live here and I like it.

We instruct our office staff to tell prospective renters or buyers to drive through the specific areas you are considering living in and make that judgment call yourself. I have even suggested that they visit at different times of day to see what activities might occur there. Talk to the neighbors and see what they say.

In this age of information we live in now we have great tools at our disposal. Web sites like www.KCPD.org offer crime statistics and even maps of crime data. Sites like www.bestplaces.net offer comparative analysis of different communities and link to data from the Census Bureau , which offers a vast range of data on income, economic and social statistics.

Most police departments will provide a record of calls for service for a specific area if you ask. They usually charge a nominal fee for the printing but it can be invaluable in your research.

As real estate agents we are not allowed to express an opinion or direct anyone to a specific area or neighborhood. So if you want to know about the specific neighborhood you are looking at, you will have to do some research on your own. We hope these links help. We are sure there are many others you will find also.  

Make sure that the area you will call home fits YOUR criteria.