The mayors of four large Missouri cities will be in southwest Missouri’s Springfield on Friday morning to have a closed-door meeting with Governor Mike Parson about crime and violence in their communities.
State Rep. Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on September 10, 2019. House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, is at right (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)
Governor Parson (R) will meet with Springfield Mayor Ken McClure, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and Columbia Mayor Brian Treece. They’ll meet Friday morning from 10:30 until 11:15, and then they’re expected to come out of the meeting and address reporters.
U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison has told Missourinet that Missouri has three of the top 15 most violent cities in the nation, on a per capita basis. Those three cities are St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield. Garrison told that to then White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly last July, and Garrison says Kelly was “floored.”
Governor Parson told Capitol reporters in September that the violent crime issue will take a coordinated effort among federal, state and community leaders.
“This will never be fixed by one agency. It won’t. It’s going to take a lot of people a long time to try to fix this problem,” Parson said that day.
Kansas City Police say there have been 118 homicides in 2019, and five of them were children.
During last month’s special session, State Rep. Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, told Capitol reporters that the time for action is now, adding that God wants state lawmakers to take action instead of praying.
“In Kansas City in the month of August, we had a double homicide in the Power and Light district. A patron was shot and killed in the 18th and Vine Jazz District,” Brown said in September. He’s the ranking Democrat on the Missouri House Special Committee on Tourism, and says violent crime is hurting business in Kansas City.
During the special session, State Sen. Jamiliah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, noted at least 13 children have been killed in St. Louis city shootings in 2019. Senator Nasheed has called on the Senate to hold a hearing in St. Louis, where the parents of murdered children can testify. Nasheed has described the gun violence in her hometown as an epidemic.
In mid-Missouri’s Columbia, there were five murders during the month of September.
Missourinet Springfield affiliate KSGF will be outside of Friday morning’s meeting, and will talk to participants as they come out.
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