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by TGES from The Great State of Confusion

Last Post 158 days, 13 hours Ago

Park at your own Risk!!!

Dec 8, 2008 | 10:02 AM
Category: News

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This past Saturday evening, the Heart of America Council of the Boy Scouts of America sponsored a "night out with the Roos," where Scouts were able to earn tickets to the UMKC Roos basketball game. The Council provided pizza for the Scouts & their parents, then enjoyed the UMKC game, as they defeated IPFW.

Much to the horror of many who parked in the "pay" lot between 12th & 13th & Broadway, they came out to finding their car windows busted out, and various items stolen.

I personally counted 20 vehicles that had been broken into. It was heart-wrenching to see the broken hearts of the scouts and their parents as they walked up to their cars, only to find their good deeds that earned them the tickets quashed in mere seconds by some mindless thugs.

Please use good judgement where you park when attending any function downtown. It appears that overzealous tow truck operators are not the only predators crawling around down there.

18 Comments | Add a Comment

Dec 8, 2008 | 11:15 AM

Why would anyone wast to go to K C? For any reason.

jpbikerfreak

Dec 8, 2008 | 11:52 AM

Ya it's sad. Earlier this year I got to experience it myself

I have to go to KC cause I work here.

I came out to our private parking garage one day to find glass all over my seat, missing an MP3 player, an xm radio receiver and a glock .40.

What's really sad is your chances of recovering ANYTHING are slim and none, especially the glock.

I figured I'd have a decent chance since I have the serial number... nope. Detectives said nobody but law enforcement can run those. Not pawn shops, not gun shops. They said pawn shops and dealers buy and sell hot guns all the time without knowing it.

They then told me it's probably in mexico by now.

So I just ate it all... the repairs, the items that got taken, all of it, and went on with my life. What else can you do?

Jordan

Dec 8, 2008 | 12:11 PM

I find it interest that the media recently did a report on a number of cars being vandalized in Kansas, but there doesn’t seem to have been any media coverage of the incident you describe. Could it be, as many suspect, that the police and media are covering up and/or withholding crime information in the downtown KCMO area so as not to damage its reputation and attraction?

ralex

Dec 8, 2008 | 12:13 PM

I lucked out, as I was at the Midland Theater not long ago. I probably go down town twice a year. Limit your exposure, but for those who work down town, Buy a beater car for commuting and don't leave anything of value in it.

jpbikerfreak

Dec 8, 2008 | 1:21 PM

Ya ralex the term for that is urban camouflage LOL

kingborg

Dec 8, 2008 | 2:55 PM

NEVER leave items of value in VIEW when you leave your car. i dont understand why people can not understand this SIMPLE thought.

mnaines

Dec 8, 2008 | 4:19 PM

Kingborg, another thing people need to do is invest in some type of alarm system. I, for one, went all-out on the security - 38% visible light transmission tint, a windshield sun shade (with both the tint and sun shade going, you can barely see inside the car even on a bight sunny day), a very sensitive alarm complete with shock sensor and starter kill, a lockable transmission neutral safety switch that prevents the transmission from being shifted out of Park when the ignition is turned off, and I keep my keys in my pocket when I leave the car.

mnaines

Dec 8, 2008 | 4:30 PM

Tinted windows help with security because they make it harder for people to see inside the car - 38% VLT or 35% VLT tint combined with a windshield sun shade will almost completely black out the inside of the car, even on a sunny day, and if you angle the car so the windshield is facing into the sun, you'd literally have to be right up against the window to see inside the car, and even then it would not be easy. I have 38% VLT tint on all but the windshield. The darkest legal tint here in Kansas is 35% VLT on both the front and back windows the windows. In Missouri, there is no limit to tint on the rear windows - you could go all the way down to the 5% VLT Limousine Black tint on the back windows and have 38% VLT up front and the cops can't legally say anything.

The other benefit to having 38% VLT tint on the car is you do not have to worry about sunglasses unless you are driving straight at the sun and you don't have to adjust your inside mirror for headlights as the 38% VLT is dark enough to block out most of the headlight intensity so it isn't blinding.

kingborg

Dec 8, 2008 | 4:43 PM

one thing i gotta say is car alarms do work home alarms do not. i can say if a home alarm goes off it takes over 6 min for police to be dispatched. JUST dispatched not arrive time.

PanaRicanChula

Dec 8, 2008 | 5:26 PM

I have been living downtown for over 4 years now. Thanks to God I have not had my car broken into. (Can it happen??? Yes, of course) Yet, I make sure NOT to leave anything in my car and pray for the best. I have gotten those damn parking tickets for parking around the apartment complex...which I think is ridiculous. Either way....sad that the police is um....not far at all. They need cameras and a lot more security to patrol. Sorry for all those who were vandalized. I know it has happend to me....when we lived in Blue Springs...so you just never know. They also broke my step pops back window out and took nothing...so you just never know.

mnaines

Dec 8, 2008 | 5:40 PM

Oh, and speaking of car alarms working - A funny thing about having a tilt sensor on the alarm system is if the predatory tow truck operators try to steal my car, the alarm will be going off the whole time the car is on the bed of the tow truck...So any cops who happen to see the guy will know the car is stolen.

mnaines

Dec 8, 2008 | 5:41 PM

And you can't kill the alarm by disconnecting the battery because the alarm has a backup battery that provides up to 30 minutes of runtime after the car's battery has been disconnected.

mpvan

Dec 8, 2008 | 6:55 PM

Park at Bazooka's. It's a little tight, but there's a really big guy watching over all the cars all the time.

tb38

Dec 9, 2008 | 2:10 AM

I remeber when the P & L distric was just starting to open and the sprint center wasn't even done yet. People were skeptical (me included) of the security down there. The city rushed to kill those thoughts, then. Here we are a year later. It would be stupid on the city's part to drive away people from the multi millions that was spent to build that hole just becase they can't seem to secure it.

jpbikerfreak

Dec 9, 2008 | 10:47 AM

People ignore car alarms.

And kingborg, there was nothing of (any real) value in view of my car. It was targeted mainly because it was in the very bottom corner of the garage, out of view from anyone including the cameras.

Our company has installed cameras in the places that everyone can already see anyway, not the locations that actually need them. For that reason MANY cars near my old spot have been broken in to.

And as for all the bagging on downtown, it's not just downtown. There is much more crime in JoCo than people realize.

cherokee316

Dec 9, 2008 | 12:51 PM

JpBiker,I'm all for carry and conceal but that was flat out STUPID to leave a gun in a car,but unfortunately you are just one of many that do this all the time.People need to remember that home burglaries aren't the only way that criminals get their hands on guns.

lmatt

Dec 9, 2008 | 2:07 PM

Kansas city downtown has the same crime that St louis downtown area has. Just nobody every admits it!

luckycharm2987

Dec 10, 2008 | 11:21 PM

Speaking of car alarms, I was personally in this parking lot and the car next to us had an alarm... why it didn't go off shocks me the alarm light was still flashing! Does it have to do with the crooks breaking the smaller side window in the rear passenger door?

I know my family was blessed to have not had our vehicle broken into! I was deeply saddened to see so many children scared and shaken by the events that took place that night!

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