Jackson County unveils homicide ticker to ‘better inform public’ of increasing violence in KC
JACKSON COUNTY, Mo. (KCTV) - With Kansas City on track for its most violent year on record, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office unveiled a new publicly available feature on its website aimed to better inform the public of the increasing violence in the city.
Friday, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced that a homicide ticker is now featured on the top of the website www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com. Peters Baker said in her blog the goal of the dashboard is to provide more transparency to the public.
“Our goal is to better inform the public of the grim and increasing toll of violence in Kansas City,” Peters Baker said. “Across the top of the website a Homicide Tracker or banner will detail the status of the violence.”
The banner will show the number of homicides that have occurred in 2023 in Kansas City within Jackson County, along with other jurisdictions in the county. It will also show how many 2023 homicide cases have been referred to the prosecutor’s office from the police departments within Jackson County for criminal charges, as well as how many of those cases have been filed and charged.
Peters Baker said the banner currently shows 88 homicides in Kansas City within Jackson County. Of the 88 homicides, 34 have been referred to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office for charges by KD, and criminal charges have been filed in 28 of those 34 cases.
“It is important to make this information easily available and easy to understand,” Peters Baker said, explaining that the data will be updated weekly.
Along with the Homicide Tracker will be a link to the office’s Violence Dashboard, which provides more detail -- including maps -- about homicides and non-fatal shootings in Kansas City. Information will soon be added about eastern Jackson County communities.
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