Waldo, Brookside businesses take next steps to minimize crime
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Businesses and locals are making progress by teaming up in new ways so Brookside and Waldo do not lose the unique entertainment they are known for.
This is all part of a new way to keep shopping and eating at local places from both Kansas City neighborhoods happy and enjoyable. Both neighborhood business associations have drawn up plans with the city but need community help to make it happen.
From now on, criminals should think twice before they commit a crime in Waldo. They are now likely being filmed at the same time.
“It’s helping us identify a handful of repeat offenders,” Sean Anderson, Executive Director of the Waldo Business Association said.
Wherever you shop or eat, you are on more cameras than ever.
“A lot of our businesses didn’t have cameras at all, so we’ve been advocating for this before I got here,” Anderson explained. “And we’ve seen an explosion of interest in it.”
This comes from a sales tax in the Waldo Community Improvement District. The business association will match up to $7,500 through the Storefront Improvement Grant to install new camera systems. Now, they hope to hire more private security guards to patrol storefronts and blocks.
“We’re staffing more hours, spending more money than we ever have before on contract security services,” Anderson said. “In a lot of ways it’s impactful. We’ve been able to study when things are happening.”
Friday morning, Casey and Sloan Simmons had a meeting with the entire Brookside Business Association to learn how Brookside is banding together.
“I think what you’re going to see is coalitions being built,” Casey Simmons, Co-Owner of A Store Named Stuff, said. “So that we can expand our awareness and our coverage. Whether that is security, that could be cameras, that could be how we communicate.”
This new team effort to fight crime on a more grassroots level has confident they will be more effective in catching suspects and reporting evidence to police immediately.
Casey’s sister Sloane added, “When you have the landlords, the City of Kansas City, the business owners, the people who shop here, when we’re all working as a team our eyes are all open and our eyes are focused on the good I think a lot of change will come,”.
Every business owner we met wants everyone to know coming into the Fall, Brookside and Waldo still have so much going for them and a string of crimes won’t stop them from celebrating what the communities offer.
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