We demand a KCKPD Cold Case Unit!

The following petition is addressed to the KCKPD Police Chief, Karl Oakman and the Wyandotte County UG Board of Commissioners.

The Kansas City Kansas Police Department does not have an established cold case unit to re-examine and investigate unsolved homicides that have gone cold. Currently, the KCKPD shifts the responsibility to the community to find tips and come forward with more information before reviewing any unsolved and cold homicide cases. These unsolved homicides are categorized as “under investigation”. This current process prevents disclosing case information to families even though there is no actual designated unit or detective investigating these cases. 

The KCKPD Crime Stat Annual Report showed 66 unsolved homicides in the last five years. National reporting of the KCKPD clearance rate shows 367 unsolved homicides between 1965 and 2015. Gaps in national reporting and data suggest these numbers of unsolved homicides may be higher.

“More than 256,000 Americans have perished in unsolved homicides committed since 1980 in the United States. No one knows all the names of these victims because no law enforcement agency in America is assigned to monitor failed homicide investigations by local police departments (Murder Accountability Project, 2019).”

As residents of KCK, we demand a well-supported cold case unit become a required department in law enforcement in Kansas City, KS, effective January 1, 2022.

The original demands mentioned above were authored by Justice for Wyandotte and supported by all signers of this petition. For further information, contact the original author at: kckreform@gmail.com.

Source references:

• Kansas City Kansas Police Department. "Learn about Our Department: KCKPD." KCKPD Department Information. Accessed June 03, 2021. http://www.kckpd.org/department.html
• Kansas City Kansas Police Department, "Crime Stats Annual Report: KCKPD," Kansas City, Kansas Annual Criminal Report, 2020, |PAGE|, accessed June 03, 2021, http://www.kckpd.org/annual-report.html
• Murder Accountability Project, "Clearance Rates," Murder Accountability Project, 2019, |PAGE|, accessed June 03, 2021, http://www.murderdata.org/p/blog-page.html