In the fall of 2007, a local business owner leased his large martial arts studio out to a group of citizens from the Kansas City Missouri area for a large celebration.  The party suddenly ended, however, when a running gunfight broke out during the event between some of the party attendees; injuring 3 of the youth in attendance and scattering over 100 people out of the building and into the parking lots.  Only a few months later, a young woman was a victim of a carjacking which resulted resulting in a serious gunshot injury to her face.  Such events had never occurred in the large suburban community of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, before these incidents; which left the City of Lee’s Summit concerned that such events could begin happening more frequently if something wasn’t done.  In response to these events and several others which followed, the City of Lee’s Summit formed the Safe Community Task Force. 

This case study was submitted to the Alliance for Innovation for consideration at the 2010 Transforming Local Government Conference.