The Police Foundation of Kansas City’s investments, your contributions, are making a difference. Crime is down this year. Kansas City is safer. As of August 2025, property damage is down 37%, non-fatal shootings 30%, robberies 19%, stealing 19%, stolen autos 27% and burglaries 15% (source: https://www.kcpolice.org/)

Over the past two years, The Police Foundation of Kansas City has been strategically layering critical groundwork to ensure the KCPD is equipped with the tools needed to keep Kansas City safe. From innovative technology to real-time data to collaborative partnerships, the way we approach safety is always evolving.

 

“Because of the Police Foundation of Kansas City, cutting- edge tools are now more accessible to our police department and out on our streets.”

– Police Foundation of Kansas City Board Member Cathy Allin

 

In Parts 1 and 2 of our blog series, we looked at the big picture:

Now, in Part 3, we’re turning the spotlight on the tangible investments, groundbreaking collaborations and innovative technology that are actively changing how policing works in Kansas City. We are not just reading about best practices, we are helping the Kansas City Missouri Police Department define them.

 

A Shared Vision: Making Downtown Safer for Everyone

The Downtown Business Safety Initiative is one of the Police Foundation’s most recent initiatives, built around a single vision: a safer, more vibrant Kansas City for everyone because Everyone Wants to Feel Safe.

In this effort, the Police Foundation has worked closely with an expanding group of community partners to turn intention into action. Our focus? To make the business community, the face of Kansas City, safer.

Investments That Matter:

  • New Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) Initiative
    We’re extremely excited for the addition of ALPR cameras at 31 intersections from the River Market to the Plaza. This crucial hardware will increase efficiencies in delivering real-time intelligence to officers and investigative analysts.
  • Expanded Camera Coverage
    We’ve partnered with the Truman Road CID, River Market CID and the KC Streetcar Authority to boost camera coverage downtown. The KC Streetcar Authority went even further, hiring KCPD officers and providing a dedicated patrol vehicle to enhance security along the route.

 

Data-Driven Change: Helping Everyone Work Smarter

This transformation isn’t just about more technology, it’s about using it wisely. We’ve made sure that the systems we’ve invested in can be supported, scaled and used to their fullest potential:

  • Investigative Analysts
    The Police Foundation partnered with another local foundation to provide subject matter in the form of analysts to be embedded full-time within the KCPD investigation squads. These analysts are helping to professionalize the ever-growing need for digital analysis.
  • Peregrine Technology
    Peregrine is an advanced data integration platform designed for the Kansas City Missouri Police Department’s network infrastructure. This sophisticated software centralizes diverse data sets from multiple department sources. It generates comprehensive, actionable insights enhancing investigative and management systems. This leverages real-time data to optimize deployment strategies for prevention, intervention and accountability.

A social network diagram created in Peregrine used to identify both offenders as well as those better served by social services or other outreach. Diagrams such as this used to take several hours using old technology. They now take seconds to build in Peregrine.

Together, these tools and experts are not only solving crimes, they’re preventing them.

 

What’s Still Needed in Kansas City to Move Us Forward to a Safer Community?

  • More Officers
    Our police department is currently critically understaffed but they are also hiring. If you or someone you know has considered a career in law enforcement, click here for more information.
  • A Functional Jail System
    The city of Kansas City is operating without a local city jail. When there is no available space, officers may be unable to arrest individuals who have committed crimes, simply because there is nowhere to take them. Without the basic ability to remove criminals from our neighborhoods who are actively committing crimes, we lack the ability to deter future crimes and keep people safe. Due to pressure and support from community leaders, the city is studying the option of building a modular jail facility locally.

 

Help Us Finish the Job

We continue working so everyone can feel safe. We’ve made progress. There’s still work to do.

Support us. Every donation equips law enforcement with the tools, training and technology they need.

Join the cause. Know someone who wants to make a difference? KCPD is hiring.

Speak up. Advocate for infrastructure. Advocate for partnerships. Advocate for sustainable safety solutions that work.

The Police Foundation of Kansas City has assisted in transforming policing from what was, to what is. With your help, we can shape what’s next.

Let’s keep going.

 

Catch up on the full series:

 

Interested in learning more or getting involved? Click here.

 

 

Tye Grant -PRESIDENTM. Tye Grant

President & CEO, Police Foundation of Kansas City