Candidates for Jackson County prosecutor provide their visions for improving public safety
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Kansas City has been put on the map for some of the wrong reasons lately thanks to crime. Both Melesa Johnson and Tracey Chappell believe they have the answers to stop it if elected as prosecutor for Jackson County.
If there’s one thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on it’s something has to be done about crime in Kansas City. KCTV asked both women who would oversee prosecuting criminals what changes they would bring.
In a city plagued by crime, the next prosecutor in Jackson County has to convince voters they know how to prosecute effectively.
“I’ve been both a head prosecutor, I have also been a criminal defense attorney,” Chappell championed. “So, I am well-balanced. I have worked with police officers.”
“I have brought over $1 million of Department of Justice Grant Funding to this community,” Johnson referenced, citing her time as Director of Public Safety in Kansas City. “I have drafted municipal laws, most recently a law that makes it easier to impound cars believed to be involved in street racing.”
From January through September this year, Kansas City police report the city has experienced 5,725 property damages, 1,960 burglaries, and over 6,060 cars stolen. Both candidates laid out their vision for minimizing property crimes.
“We will start a property crimes prosecution division to help us tackle this issue,” Johnson said. “This new division will partner with law enforcement agencies and deploy prosecutors to the scenes of non-violent property crimes. I am not playing with repeat offenders.”
“I would absolutely advocate to have those people sit in jail until their trial,” Chappell said. “When you have repeat offenders like we’re having who are in jail for one day and when they get out, they are repeating the crimes over and over again, those individuals must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
In Johnson’s plan, the prosecutor’s office takes a stronger role in investing in social programs preventing crime at its core.
“We invest COMBAT funds which are under the requisition authority of the Prosecutor’s Office to the tune of about $30 million annually,” Johnson explained. “Into things like affordable housing, and mental health resources. I even want to start a countywide mentorship program.”
Chappell vowed to increase the prosecutor’s presence at homeowners association and business meetings, vowing her team will work one-on-one with you to save livelihoods and ensure you’re safe.
“When we have trust in the communities with the prosecutor’s office then they can actually come and talk to us,” Chappell said. “They’re more willing to talk to us because they know that I am going to get the job done.”
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