Dialogue on reducing violence in community to be Oct. 25

A dialogue on reducing community violence will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, at Harmon High School, 2400 Steele Road, Kansas City, Kan.

Sponsored by the Mayor’s Clergy Roundtable, four dialogues will place those who attend into groups of 10 to 15 people, with a facilitator assigned to lead the dialogue. Police officers will join in the group discussions.

This is the second dialogue in a series of four scheduled in the wake of an increase in homicides over the past several months, including the murder of two KCK police officers. The dialogue is an opportunity for residents and police officers to discuss how to best address the crime in their communities.

Mayor-CEO Mark Holland said the facilitated dialogues give people a chance to offer their opinions in small groups about the barriers and opportunities the community faces as it begins the challenging work of identifying how to make Kansas City, Kan., as safe as possible.

“The voices of our residents are a critical part of this process and I want to encourage their participation,” Mayor Holland said. “We cannot address the important issues our community faces unless we hear from the people who are most affected by them—the people who live and work in KCK.”

The Oct. 25 dialogue is a follow-up to the community forum held Sept. 20 to start a discussion on ideas for reducing violence in Kansas City, Kan.

Registration for the dialogue will begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 25. The discussions will continue on how the community and law enforcement can work together to make Kansas City, Kan., a safer place to live. The dialogues are open to the public.

More dialogues are scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Sumner Academy, 1610 N. 8th St., Kansas City, Kan.; and at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13, at the Patricia Diane Kane Community Center (at the Piper district complex), 3130 N. 122nd St., Kansas City, Kan.