Missouri governor visiting Kansas City today to discuss violent crime

During Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s meeting in Kansas City today, the governor will meet with city leaders to discuss violent crime in the area, a meeting taking place at the police department’s East Patrol headquarters.

Parson’s office has only said the meeting will focus on violent crime; no information has been provided.

This month, Parson has made ending crime in the state a top concern, traveling to Washington, D.C. where he called for a special legislative session to address the issue.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched Operation Legend shortly after Parson’s visit to D.C. The operation calls for sending about 200 federal agents to Kansas City to help combat violent crime.

“Reform is not going to be something that’s going to be easily done in a short session. One, there’s a lot of things that’s going to to have to go a lot of work into that to see what that looks like, whether it’s in St. Louis, whether it’s in Kansas City or whether it’s statewide,” Parson said in a statement last week.

The special legislative session begins next Monday, July 27 in Jefferson City.