NWCDC is committed to making Western Independence a safe place to live.

NorthWest Communities Development Corporation keeps a strong focus on crime and public safety and has throughout its history.

Englewood Station – Englewood Station now houses a Community Policing Unit, the Bicycle Police and provides office space for Codes Compliance Officers and American Medical Response paramedics to take notes, return phone calls, and access email while they are in the field. Englewood Station also provides room for small neighborhood meetings. Englewood Station is operated with the help of volunteers and NorthWest CDC staff.

Neighborhood Block Watch Program – NorthWest CDC partners with the Independence Police to coordinate the Neighborhood Block Watch meetings that are held in western Independence. The meetings are an opportunity for neighbors to learn crime prevention strategies and to discuss safety concerns with the police.

Also, NorthWest CDC staff coordinate regular Neighborhood Walk-Throughs, in which police and community residents target specific neighborhoods to knock on doors, provide crime prevention information, answer questions and surface safety concerns that need to be addressed from the residents.

Please see the Calendar for a schedule of upcoming meetings and events.

Weed and Seed Initiative –

This summer, the City of Independence was awarded $175,000 for the first year of a five-year $1 million Englewood / Maywood Weed and Seed Initiative which focuses on the area between Truman Road and 31st Street, Sterling Avenue to the western City limits.  NorthWest CDC has helped to coordinate the efforts of the public agencies, churches, neighborhood organizations and local businesses that are involved with the Initiative. 

The Local Investment Commission (LINC) produced a series of maps to support the proposal. 

As an example of the information collected, click data maps to see a map correlating crime data and code violations in the city of Independence.

With the “Seed” funds, the NorthWest CDC will be hiring a Site Director and a Community Organizer, to help increase citizen participation and develop effective youth and employment programs in western Independence.

This is the second Weed and Seed grant that Independence has received.  The NorthWest CDC was launched with the support of a five-year Weed and Seed grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, directed at reducing crime in the Fairmount neighborhood.  The success of that initial grant in reducing crime and building effective community programs spurred us to apply again for the area just to the south of Truman Road.  We are excited by the possibilities that this funding creates for the Maywood and Englewood Neighborhoods.

Read the executive summary of the grant proposal.