A recent comment in the social media universe commented about the two homicides in Parsons that occurred this year. The post complained that these homicides were a failure of your police department.

•    1) The first murder occurred in February and was a domestic violence case involving two residents from Montgomery County. The male and female were passing through Parsons, the murder victim was suffocated. The suspect was arrested.
•    2) The second case occurred in April and was a domestic related murder. The female suspect ran over the Victim (boyfriend) on US 59 south of US 400 in Parsons. The suspect was arrested.

Parsons violent crime rate which is lower today than in the previous years of 2017 and 2018. Felony Domestic Aggravated Assaults remain the driving force behind our community's violent crime rate.  Domestic violence is also the leading cause for homicides in Parsons for the past decade too. Last year, there were also 182 domestic violence (misdemeanor) cases. Reduce or eliminate domestic violence in Parsons and our crime rate plummets.

Nationwide only 61% of all murders are solved. Over the past decade 100% of the homicides investigated by Parsons PD have been solved.

There is one case that we partnered with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) the occurred in mid-2018 which has been assigned to them as the lead agency. That case is an active and viable investigation being handled by KBI.

•     In 2010, there were two murders one in June and one in September. One was drug related and the other involved a family member (domestic related). Arrests were made in both.
•     In 2011, a juvenile was murdered by a known individual who was the Victim's mother's boyfriend (domestic related). An arrest was made.
•     In 2013, a multiple murder resulted in the arrest of an individual who had been a stalker. An arrest was made with Parsons PD partnering with KBI.
•     In 2015, there were two murders that resulted in arrests. One incident was drug related and the other was domestic connected.
•     In 2017, there was a domestic related homicide that resulted in an arrest.
•     In 2018, this murder case is being handled by KBI and remains an open and viable investigation.
•     In 2019, a Suspect committed suicide after a domestic related homicide.
•     In 2020, as listed above both homicides were domestic related with arrests made in both cases.

Domestic violence whether a misdemeanor battery, a felony aggravated assault or a domestic related homicide are tuff crimes to think that law enforcement on our own can prevent. These are crimes that require community investment.

The Center for Problem Oriented Policing (POP) has a useful booklet on Domestic Violence that you can download at:

https://popcenter.asu.edu/sites/default/files/domestic_violence.pdf

The police and fire departments are working to create a Public Safety Advisory Board that Fire Chief Ward and I are working to create. This advisory board will provide input to our Departments and partner with us to identify community challenges to work on. You will hear more about this in the coming weeks.

To learn more about how a community can reduce domestic violence visit the following web sites:

https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/intimate-partner-violence/index.html

https://www.domesticshelters.org/articles/ending-domestic-violence/10-ways-you-can-help-prevent-domestic-violence-where-you-live

https://www.theduluthmodel.org/stop-violence-community/

Robert Spinks, MA, MS

Chief - Parsons Police Department

www.parsonspd.com

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