“We’re trying some new things.”

By Jill Draper

“We’re trying some new things,” Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Melesa Johnson told the crowd at a Feb. 10 meeting of the South Kansas City Alliance. It was a message repeated by three other speakers that night, all addressing the topic of public safety and crime reduction.

“Wow,” commented a member of the 60-person audience afterward. “I’ve been going to these meetings for 15 years and this was the best one yet.”

One of Johnson’s new things is a standalone property crimes unit. She’s in the process of adding three attorneys to a group that until now has been only crime analysts. The unit will work directly with business owners and security guards, she said. Also new will be witness advocates to encourage and better protect those willing to help secure convictions. According to Johnson, in recent years the county has had to decline prosecuting over 215 cases based on uncooperative witnesses.

At one point Johnson showed off a large sign that business owners can display to legally prohibit firearms on the premises. “People carrying firearms are trespassing…and will be prosecuted,” the sign says. Once a person trespasses and returns to commit a theft, the charge is elevated to the felony level, Johnson explained. She also announced a change to prosecute many domestic violence crimes as felonies after learning that 90 percent of these crimes, including acts like attempted strangulation, were being handled at the municipal level.

When it comes to communications, Johnson said it’s important to go beyond news releases sent to traditional media. When two young men recently kicked over a tombstone (which turned out to be a Class E felony) she sent a release to KC Discover, an Instagram page with some 80,000 followers.

Although no celebratory gunfire followed the Chief’s Super Bowl loss, Johnson committed to filing criminal charges for recklessly discharging a firearm within city limit under a new state law with harsher penalties, even for first offenses.

She will continue her predecessor’s policy of not prosecuting simple nonviolent drug possession, but she pledged to go after distributors whether or not violence is involved. Still, she warned, “We cannot incarcerate our way out of the drug abuse issue.” COMBAT-funded programs to address drug abuse, emotional intelligence and behavioral management in schools are crucial, she said.

Johnson announced she was beginning her sixth week as the new county prosecutor. She was followed by Lace Cline, who is beginning her fourth week as the new director of public safety in the KCMO Mayor’s Office. Cline is a former assistant prosecuting attorney in Jackson County and a former circuit attorney in St. Louis. She will serve as a liaison with several county prosecutors and the KC Police Department.

Two priorities will be improving the 911 system and explaining the proposed extension of the KCMO quarter-cent public safety sales tax on the April ballot that will help fund a new city jail (a rehabilitation and detention center) plus help fund the KC Fire and Police departments.

The SKCA meeting was held at the KCPD’s South Patrol Police Campus, and the next speaker was Major Kari Thompson, new commander of the South Patrol Division. She echoed putting a priority on 911.

“We are working tirelessly to figure out 911 and recruiting like nobody’s business,” Thompson said. “It’s hard to staff positions where you listen to trauma all day long.”

She noted that Kansas City’s homicide rate is a huge problem that is often caused by arguments. “Black men are killing each other at unbelievable rates. We need conflict resolution, mediation and lessons on how to talk to one another—and we need to start this in the second grade.”

Thompson also discussed the area’s homeless population, saying the police were dealing with an “all-time high” epidemic of fentanyl and meth drug abuse. “We have a homeless task force and we have messaged everyone at least once,” she said, but most choose not to receive services. She expects the FIFA World Cup to attract about 1,500 new homeless visitors to Kansas City in 2026.

Although not scheduled on the SKCA agenda, Judge Martina Peterson of the KCMO Municipal Court was asked by Thompson to make concluding remarks. Peterson emphasized the importance of a new city jail, saying she and other officials are constantly forced to make difficult decisions about who to release because of space limitations.

She announced the city was launching a Women’s Court next month under the umbrella of the new Wellness Court, which merges Drug Court and Mental Health Court. In May she plans to start a Homeless Court to help with transitional housing and jobs.

“We need a place to get people stable,” she said. “Sometimes they need to detox or start taking meds before you can even have a conversation.”

Another new thrust is Evening Court. Judges will set up a table at various community events to resolve outstanding warrants that limit people’s opportunities for housing and jobs.

SKCA’s next meeting will be a forum on April ballot issues. It will be at 6 pm March 10 at the Mid-Continent Public Library’s Red Bridge Branch.