KCPD Understrength Forces River Market To Hire Private Security

Tonight we notice local merchants taking matters into their own hands amid a property crime wave that continues into 2025 . . . For better or worse, this quote seems to sum up the local situation for small biz:

Recognizing there are too few police and too much property crime, the River Market Community Improvement District on Wednesday announced it had contracted with Signal Security, a private company, to provide 24/7 security throughout the historic neighborhood.

“This may sound counter-intuitive, because we have a police force,” said Robert Reiman, a nine-year resident of the the historic district, and chair of security committee of the River Market Community Improvement District. “But they’re short lots of officers right now — 300 or 400. “They just don’t have the capacity to address the types of crimes that are happening, which are a lot of property crimes. So we decided to turn on our own security program at night.”

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Private security hired to patrol Kansas City's River Market. 'We've got to do something.'

"The police will still be a part of this whole process. We're just going to be able to handle the minor, non-threatening incidents a lot quicker," said Mark Rowland, director of contracts for the River Market Community Improvement District.