Barney Jasper
Agency: Kansas City Police Department, MO
The night of January 21, 1924, Officer Barney Jasper was walking in Little Italy when an unknown assailant ambushed him, shooting him in the back. He was found where he had fallen in front of 518 Forest Avenue. Police theory was that the assailant hid behind a tall fence at the address and fired on him from that spot. Officer Jasper died on January 22, 1924. The suspect was never identified. The day after the shooting, the Kansas City Post reported, “Police believe Jasper was mistaken by his assailants for Louis Center, also a black patrolman, whose life had been threatened by bootleggers in the vicinity”
Officer Jasper was the first black Kansas City police officer to be killed in the line of duty. He was 31 at the time of his death and survived by his wife, Henrietta Jasper.
A bench has been dedicated in memory of Jasper for his sacrifice in the line of duty. The bench is at the Kansas City Police Department’s Trail of Heroes west of the Shoal Creek Patrol Division at 6801 N.E. Pleasant Valley Road.
Reflections:
References: