Kansas City, MO. – After decades of service from the Kansas City community, owners of the city center companies say they are at a break.
“This is not a breed problem, it is not a political problem, it is a security problem.”
Mayor Lucas rings the alarm on the recent KCPD colonies
It is David Lopez, managing director of the Mexican restaurant in Manny – a crossroads institution for almost 45 years. But on Tuesday he says that things are more dangerous than ever.
“I have the impression that this city is about as dangerous as possible since my family was at 207 Southwest Boulevard and it's 45 years in September,” he added.
Illegal street races, mountain biking and dirt bikes tearing in the neighborhoods – even an officer in intentionally overturned by a mountain bike just a few weeks ago. Chaos, says Lopez, is constant.
“When things out of your control begin to remove the very foundation from what you have done for four generations, it hurts,” he said.
He is not alone. The owners of companies in the city center say that they feel abandoned by the management of the city and the police and the effects reach more than morale – they reduce income.
“People are going to leave – that's all. At 8:00 am on Saturday, we are used to receiving our third round, now at 8:00 am, I cut three servers, a bartender and three cooking employees,” said Lopez.
Bradley Gilmore, owner of Southern Cookhouse by Lula, said that he had seen the crime increase and that the police presence disappears and although he supports the revitalization projects of the city center like the 670 Park and the baseball of the city center, his support is quickly discolored.
“It is incredibly disappointing to see the continuous lack of police presence and response in our neighborhood. It becomes more and more difficult to support these large -scale projects when the basic needs of security and accessibility are ignored,” Gilmore said in a press release at Fox4.
Gilmore shared screenshots of text messages sent directly to the mayor Quinton Lucas – after the mayor publicly encouraged the residents to contact him. His messages remained unanswered.
Now, he fears that the crossroads can go up in what it was in the past: a ghost city.
“You are under surveillance”, plays on a downtown speaker repeatedly in front of Tom's Town Distilling Co. and they say that it is not comforting and that it is not a substitute for real security.
“It's the opposite to ensure that people feel safe when they venture around the crossroads,” said Tony Pulford, Tom's Town Distilling Co. “Security is a continuous concern – we want this … But I think there are better ways to do it.”
And for many, the issues become too high.
“If I have the impression that I cannot protect the people I like and that I take care – and the people I appreciate, especially the customers who cross my doors – I have come out,” said Lopez.
KCPD tells Fox4 that they increase patrols in entertainment areas and slaughter it illegal street races, slides and mountain biking activities with arrests, tickets and trailers.
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They urge anyone who sees this behavior to call 911.
Fox4 also contacted the mayor Quinton Lucas and other city officials to comment. We are still waiting for an answer.
Gilmore said he was ready to meet the mayor directly to work on a real and lasting solution.
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