Community Activists Call For Plan To Stem Violence

I forgot to put this in the original post. I was curious to know what was considered a homicide here in KC, so I emailed the KC Star to find out what constitutes a "homicide". Here is the email trail, from almost an exact year ago:

----- Original Message -----
[mailto:XXX@kcstar.com]
Sent: 1/3/2006 3:46:32 PM To:
Subject: KC homicides Dear Chris:

Your comments about Kansas City's homicide count for 2005 were forwarded to me. I'm an assistant city editor for crime and justice.

You said that self-defense killings should not count as homicides. However, there is a difference between homicide and murder. Self-defense killings are considered justifiable homicides, but they are homicides nonetheless and are counted that way by police officials. Kansas City had several justifiable homicides in 2005. (I'd have to go back over the list to get an exact count, but I remember five or six, including two or three committed by police.)

Dear Donna,

Thank you for your reply. I seem to have fallen prey to a negative connotation of the word "homicide". Woops. The title of the story in question:

Slaying of intruder raises KC toll to 127

could be construed as misleading, no? For apples to apples sake, why don't you folks compare murder rates from year to year?

Since Missouri got the CCW law, it is safe to assume that the "homicide" rate is going to go up, but if some of those homicides are bad guys dying for once, it may be a little more palatable to some. The "slayed" person in this story is certainly not going to be missed by the people who took out that innefectual restraining order. If you guys run a story, in at least a neutral tone, on the effectiveness of the CCW law with stats like how many times civilians have used guns to save themselves or others, how many criminals have been stopped or killed by armed citizens, and how much of the recent crime in KC has been committed by criminals illegally possessing guns, I will buy a 1 year subscription and put a KC Star sticker next to the NRA Life Member sticker on my truck.

Warm Regards,
Chris

Dear Chris,

Thanks for your reply. Comparing murder rates year-to-year is a nice idea, though it could be a challenge. Some homicides are ruled "justifiable" weeks or months after the fact, and some murder cases end up as manslaughter convictions later. "Homicides" gives us a clear-cut definition -- someone killed by someone else, or someone who died during the commission of a felony. And homicides are what the police use for their official count.

Measuring the impact of the CCW law is a good idea, too, and something many people would like to know. The key would be getting accurate data. Unfortunately, police will not tell us who has a CCW permit (that's closed record, per state law) and has used the gun for self-defense. As for how much crime is being committed by criminals possessing illegal guns, the police have solved so few crimes (only about half the homicides) that we don't know much about many of the killers, and the court records for caught suspects seldom say whether the weapon was legal or not.

We appreciate your comments and will continue to look for ways to explore these issues.

Have a nice day,

Donna

Dear Donna,

You just did it again, ""Homicides" gives us a clear-cut definition -- someone killed by someone else, or someone who died during the commission of a felony.". I thought the definition "homicides" stopped at "someone who is killed by someone else". People who use guns to defend themselves aren't felons.

Chris

Dear Chris,

No, I mean there are two parts to the definition. Someone killed by someone else. Or someone killed during the commission of a felony, such as the woman who died in a car accident earlier this year caused by a man fleeing police in a stolen car. Her death counted as a homicide, too.

Donna

Dear Donna,

I really appreciate the time and effort you are exerting here. It reflects positively on the Star.

The definition of "homicide" on http://www.dictionary.com is as follows: The killing of one person by another. A person who kills another person.

Can you please provide me with the definition that the Star uses and its source? Can you also provide me with the complete definition of "homicide" as it pertains to the total homicide count for the area? What is the geographical area that is encompassed in that total as well?

Regards, Chris

Dear Chris:

We use the police department's definition, which is the same for all departments in the Metropolitan area. When police call a death a homicide, we call it a homicide. Again, it's when one person kills another. It also includes the car-wreck death I mentioned to you earlier this week.

We have not published a total homicide count for the entire Metropolitan area.

Donna

End email trail

So, in conclusion, we have no idea what comprises the homicide rate cited in this article. We have no idea whether the killings were justified, self defense, or murder AND no idea what geographical area was used in determining this rate.

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