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Kansas City Police Experiment

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From 1992 to 1993 the Kansas City Police Department ran an experiment to reduce gun activity by having a greater police presence. Granted under the Bureau of Justice Assistance, “Weed and Seed” program and evaluated by the University of Maryland. A single area was targeted for this experiment, patrol beat 144. Before the experiment took place beat 144 homicides rate was about 20 times of the national average, 142 aggravated assaults with firearms, and 349 violent felonies. Beat 144 had low property values and most residents were nonwhite. From July 7, 1992 to January 27, 1993 extra patrols were provided in the target area to work overtime each night. Their main focus was to deter gun crimes. Different methods were used to find guns such as frisking. During the experiment 65 percent more guns were seized, 1 gun per 48 hours, and 1 gun per 28 traffic stops were seized. Overall, gun crimes during the experiment decreased by 49 percent. Drive-by shootings declined …show more content…

Gun crimes declined by 49 percent, gun seized by patrols increased by 65 percent, drive by shootings and homicides also declined. The hypothesis was proven right; if more guns are seized there would be less gun crime. Some weaknesses in this experiment were if the patrols chances of getting injured would be greater. Another issue could be if patrols were discriminating towards certain individuals, which could cause negative relations between the police and the community. I would have tried to get the community more involved. The police department did in fact try this before and had very little outcome. I would have kept pushing for their help, this would let the community know that the police department is there to help innocent citizens and not discriminate against anyone. This possibly could have lead to more tips and cooperation. Overall this experiment proved that being able to have more patrols to seize guns reduces gun

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