The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department hosted its third annual Halloween costume giveaway Tuesday evening at the Gateway Plaza housing development, an event that has become a symbol of the dramatic turnaround in community safety at the downtown complex.
The Halloween party offered more than 175 costumes to children living in the Gateway Plaza neighborhood, along with popcorn, candy, and a hot dog cookout for families.
Officers tossed a football with kids from the housing development while others helped excited children climb onto a police motorcycle, creating the kind of positive interactions the department has worked to foster since launching the initiative.
“This is trunk or treat, but it’s an expanded version,” Police Chief Karl Oakman said. “We give the kids and families in Gateway costumes, candy, nachos, hot dogs, water. It’s just a great time.”
The event also featured Rye, a police dog who specializes in emotional support and critical incident response rather than traditional police work like apprehending criminals, a symbol of the department’s community-focused approach.
The annual giveaway has special significance for both the police department and Gateway Plaza residents, as it commemorates a successful crime reduction initiative that transformed the neighborhood.
“We had a lot of violent crime here in Gateway,” Chief Oakman explained. “So we decided to clean it up. We did a major warrant sweep, cleaned up, took everyone to jail that needed to be.”
According to Oakman, the operation targeted problem individuals using a “focused deterrence” approach, which concentrates law enforcement resources on the most prolific offenders in a given area. The results were immediate and dramatic.
“The residents came out clapping,” Oakman recalled. The department followed up the warrant sweep with the first Halloween giveaway that October, establishing what has become an annual tradition.
“We used to have constant crime and issues here, and we don’t have them here anymore,” the chief said. “So then we came back really to show the residents that we’re here to support them, that we’re in this with them. So this is just an example of that.”
Gateway Plaza is a low-income housing development of nearly 150 two- and three-bedroom apartments near 4th Street and Washington Ave. According to the KCKPD press release, families living in the development are on “very fixed incomes that simply do not have wiggle room in the monthly budget for items like Halloween costumes.”
The Halloween giveaway represents a broader community policing strategy employed by the KCKPD, which has operated a dedicated community policing unit since 1995. The department’s mission emphasizes building partnerships with residents through “problem solving policing methods” and positive engagements.
“Providing costumes, treats and some Halloween fun not only helps take pressure off parents but allows officers an opportunity for positive engagement with young people,” the department stated in announcing the event.
Chief Oakman, who has embraced the community-oriented approach, plans to participate in another Halloween event this Friday dressed as Elvis, demonstrating the department’s commitment to building relationships through positive interactions.
