Kansas
KCPD, other organizations ‘committed to reducing violent crime’ in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department held a press conference Wednesday to discuss new partnerships in hopes of helping the city reduce violent crime.
KCPD Chief Stacey Graves announced partnerships with organizations such as Partners for Peace, AdHoc Group Against Crime, Mothers in Charge and KC Common Good to assist in the effort.
Initially, KCPD and its partners focused on reducing violence near 35th Street and Prospect Avenue after seven people were shot in the span of two days in the area.
However, this new initiative has been in the works behind the scenes for a while.
“This is just a culmination of the last several months of us planning, working together and figuring out what exactly the best strategy is to reduce violent crime in Kansas City,” Graves said.
Graves addressed the skepticism regarding the initiative due to the high number of homicides so far this year. There have been 59 homicides in 2023, which is a similar pace to the past three years — the deadliest in city history.
“This is our gesture (from) all of us standing up here to say we are committed to reducing violent crime in this city,” Graves said.
KCPD launched a similar initiative, The Kansas City No Violence Alliance (KC NoVA), in 2013. But despite recording its lowest homicide count in more than 40 years the following year, numbers went back up and averaged almost 133 homicides for the next four years.
The amount of violence led former KCPD Chief Rick Smith to announce a new enforcement strategy to replace KC NoVA midway through 2019.
Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker would reflect on that initiative, calling it a “great success” that they had a “hard time” sustaining.
She thinks the one lesson she learned from then to now is how much of a resource the community is.
KCPD and partners have been out in the community this week, educating residents on how to report criminal activity and issues affecting their quality of life. KCPD has also been following up on active warrants and communicating with residents in areas where violent crime is prevalent, as well as conducting traffic enforcement in areas where serious and fatal injury accidents are common.
Graves called on the police department’s Community Engagement Division (CED) to supplement this initiative by providing residents with resources and referrals to services.
City Manager Brian Platt listed how the city plans to improve its quality of life, such as replacing 90,000 street lights with LEDs and planting 10,000 trees in the next three years.
The initiative also focuses on the use of illegal guns in the city. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Agents worked collaboratively with local, state and federal law enforcement partners to investigate violations of federal firearms laws and remove illegal firearms from areas in the city impacted by gun violence. The collaborators also aim to educate community members on machine gun conversion devices, personally made firearms, and how to quickly and anonymously report suspected gun crimes.
KCPD will discuss forming an illegal gun squad to reduce the use of those weapons next week.
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Kansas
Revisiting 5 Bills to watch vs. the Chiefs
The Buffalo Bills pulled off a 30-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11, ending Kansas City’s unbeaten streak to start the season and inching closer to the one seed in the AFC Playoffs. While Buffalo may still be behind the Chiefs, all it takes now is a tie between the two clubs to give the Bills the advantage.
The Bills weren’t perfect on Sunday, but what they were was good enough to come out with their ninth win of the season. It took a fantastic defensive effort, a consistent offensive attack, and contributions from everyone on special teams, as well (shoutouts specifically to punt returner Brandon Codrington and punter Sam Martin).
Those specialists weren’t among our five players to watch this week, but those players who were all contributed in pretty big fashion. Here’s how our five Bills to watch performed against the Chiefs.
RB James Cook
The Chiefs made a concerted effort to slow Cook down, and in terms of his efficiency numbers, they were successful. Cook carried nine times for just 20 yards, and while he made five catches, he gained only seven yards on those grabs. It was clear that Kansas City wanted to keep him contained and force the Bills into 3rd & Long situations. They did that, yet the Bills and superhuman quarterback Josh Allen were still able to put up a 30-spot — the first time that’s happened to the Chiefs since the 2022 season. Cook contributed quite a lot in this one, though, as he scored both of Buffalo’s first-half touchdowns. He punctuated the Bills’ first scoring drive with a three-yard touchdown on a stretch run, and then he scored Buffalo’s second touchdown on the day by bulling his way into the end zone from six yards away. Cook was RB2 in terms of snaps — Ty Johnson led the way this time around — but he remained RB1 in terms of quantity of touches. Credit Kansas City for doing a good job limiting him, but they couldn’t keep him out of the end zone.
RG O’Cyrus Torrence
The second-year man was tasked with blocking Chris Jones, perenially one of the best defensive tackles in the league. It wasn’t always pretty, and it didn’t work on every play, but Torrence was often trusted to block Jones solo. He and the rest of Buffalo’s offensive line, which included first-time starter Ryan Van Demark, kept Josh Allen on his feet all day. In fact, it was only the second time Kansas City’s defense hasn’t notched a sack in a game since the start of the 2022 season. The other time was also against Allen and the Bills. Torrence looked great in what was arguably the biggest test of his young career.
EDGE Von Miller
Buffalo’s defensive front showed up in a big way this week. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was under constant duress, as the Bills hit him seven times and sacked him twice. One of those two sacks went to Miller, who was consistently pressuring Mahomes on his 21 defensive snaps. Ed Oliver showed up, as did Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa. Really, it was a total team effort on the defensive side of the ball. Miller looks spry and fully recovered from that ACL tear he suffered in 2022. He had two tackles and that big third-down sack.
LB Terrel Bernard
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that tight end Travis Kelce had his worst game against the Bills with Mahomes playing quarterback in the same game that Bernard was healthy and ready to go. Maybe it’s Father Time catching up to him. In any case, Bernard was a big factor in this one, as he expertly switched between playing zone and playing man, but also between playing blitzer and playing spy. The interplay between Bernard and Dorian Williams, who was caught in a bad spot on Xavier Worthy’s touchdown grab but was otherwise spectacular, was on full display Sunday. The next time these two teams meet, Bernard will likely be back with Matt Milano, as well. Bernard had a team-high eight tackles to go with a sack and a game-sealing interception in the fourth quarter.
CB Rasul Douglas
The big veteran had one drive where the Chiefs picked on him a bit, as they isolated him on Worthy a few times in the first quarter and used the rookie’s speed to their advantage. Otherwise, Douglas and the Bills’ corners were outstanding, forcing Mahomes to throw to players not named Kelce or DeAndre Hopkins, which was exactly the game plan for head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich. Douglas managed three tackles on the night, but he also had a funny moment when Mahomes was trying to draw the Bills offside. He started jawing at the Chiefs’ sideline, and then after Mahomes ran away from the formation when the delay of game penalty was called, Douglas chased after him and had a few words. He and Mahomes seemed to be having a good time jawing at each other. It’s that kind of attitude and ability that Buffalo missed in the playoffs, as Douglas was hampered by a knee issue in January. At full health, he showed exactly why the Bills brought him in last year.
Kansas
Thousands without power as wind whips through Kansas City metro
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – As excessive winds whipped through the metro Monday evening, thousands of people lost power.
According to an Evergy outage map, just over 6,000 customers in the Kansas City metro area were impacted by a loss of power as of 8:30 p.m. Monday.
The loss in power came as several counties on both sides of the state line dealt with high wind warnings.
Across Kansas, more than 10,000 total customers were impacted, according to Evergy’s outage map.
This is a developing story and will be updated as it continues.
Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.
Kansas
BYU Football Gets Trolled By Kansas Player After Upset Loss
PROVO, Utah – BYU football suffered its first loss of the 2024 season over the weekend to the Kansas Jayhawks.
In their first visit to Provo, the Jayhawks won 17-13 to keep their bowl game hopes alive as they improved to a 4-6 record overall.
BYU football had four trips to the red zones, resulting in zero touchdowns and only six points.
Kansas CB Cobee Bryant trolled BYU football and their No. 6 ranking
After the game at LaVell Edwards Stadium, Kansas star cornerback Cobee Bryant turned to TikTok to share his thoughts on BYU with his 112,100 followers.
He posted a dance video to the song “Clock Dat” by FendiDa Rappa with the caption, “No way they was #6 in da country.”
Note: The video contains song lyrics that may not be suitable for all audiences; watch at your own discretion.
@cobeebryant2 theres no way bro😂 #fyp #viral #BTA #humbled ♬ Clock Dat (feat. Shamar Marco) – FendiDa Rappa & Shamar Marco
Bryant’s commentary was a common thread in the national narrative after BYU’s first trip up of the year.
Bryant finished the game with three tackles in the win. The senior cornerback is one of the top defensive backs in the Big 12.
Last year against BYU in Lawrence, Bryant had a forced fumble that he scooped and scored, plus an interception. He finishes his college career against BYU with a 2-0 record.
BYU will look to get back in the win column this week when it travels to Tempe to face nationally-ranked Arizona State. Bryant and Kansas welcome red-hot Colorado to Lawrence.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
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