To show what his officers face on the streets, Kansas City Police Chief Jim Corwin released tapes and photos of a shootout an officer had with a gunman last week involving about 45 bullets fired into the early morning darkness, says the Kansas City Star. “This ain't the movies,” he said. “This is a police officer who goes home to his family and kids.” The shooting, combined with two other violent attacks against police since March, prompted Corwin to rethink his recent enforcement of a 54-year-old policy to have most officers patrol neighborhoods alone. Some officers had been riding together, leaving some patrol districts without an assigned officer, something Corwin opposed.
Corwin wants to reopen the debate and analyze whether officers riding in pairs could be as efficient in some areas as officers riding alone. Efficiency is important, he said, but at times it may need to give way to safety. “Maybe they had it right,” Corwin said of the officers who had been doubling up. “I want my organization to know I'm not closed-minded. I want us to be critical thinkers, and that starts at the top.”