KANSAS CITY, Mo. — City leaders and a local business owner are weighing in on talks of a municipal jail offering a solution to Kansas City’s ongoing property crime problem.
“Whether it’s property crime or whether it’s other types of crime, we need proactive measures not reactive measures,” said Matt Shatto, owner of Betty Rae’s Ice Cream. “It’s kind of like the back-to-business program. Theft welfare, right? It’s after the fact.”
He’s one of dozens of local business owners who have experienced break-ins and theft in the past few months.
“Now, we’re in the midst of it, right?" Shatto said. "We’re at the peak of crime, and now we have to wait for whether it’s a new prosecutor, whether it’s additional jail space."
Since the city and Jackson County agreed on a new municipal jail site, leaders have been examining what that means.
“We need to make sure — particularly on property crimes, domestic violence and traffic — that those offenses are taken seriously,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “This gives us another step to doing so.”
Lucas said it’s important for people to understand there’s already a county jail. He explained a municipal jail would take the burden off surrounding areas that have already had to turn people away.
“A local detention facility has its greatest use for those who commit traffic offenses, domestic violence and absolutely trespass and some of the lesser offenses,” Lucas said.
Data from the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department reported over 2,600 property crimes in October alone.
“I think it needs to be made very clear that if you commit property crimes in Kansas City, that is a problem,” Lucas said. “Some people try to say police won’t show up, that’s not true.”
With a number of those burglary, property damage, stealing or stolen auto crimes occurring after midnight, Lucas said he’s taken suggestions for more overnight police patrols to the state-appointed board of police commissioners.
“We continue to hear from business owners, be it in the River Market or anywhere in the city, they want more police presence, they want more patrols, particularly in the evening and nighttime hours," Lucas said.
Council member Crispin Rea has helped spearhead efforts for a city jail site. Like Lucas, he said he has heard how fed up people are with crime.
“Kansas City is on this amazing trajectory, we have many entrepreneurs and small business owners doing incredible things, and we are at a risk of losing it if we don’t get our property crime situation under control,” Rea said. “Detention is a part of the strategy. It’s not the only strategy.”
The jail site won’t be open until 2026. In the meantime, Shatto wants solutions to the crimes people are experiencing now.
“Whatever it is that’s reactive, we have to wait,” Shatto said. “We’re the ones that have been attacked by allowing criminals to do the things they’ve been able to do, and they understand that there’s no repercussions.”
More proactive solutions he’d like to see include using ankle bracelets, increasing overnight patrols, identifying prior offenses and having a sit-down meeting with the mayor.
A KCPD spokesperson offered comment on the jail site.
“A detention facility being implemented in Kansas City will offer an opportunity to course correct individuals involved in 'lower level' crimes. This will provide a chance to change that person’s trajectory to encourage better decision making processes by providing helpful resources that may have been difficult to access.
"Crime is multilayered and there is no single fix all to decreasing crime within our community. However, there needs to be a certainty of consequences for repeat offenders who continue to cause trouble within our city. A detention facility is just one part of that. Continued efforts to strengthen community relationships and partner with our city leaders to make KC a safer and better place to work and live will remain at the forefront of what we do.”
The Jackson County Legislature discussed the municipal jail at its meeting Monday. Information on the resolution to “declaring certain County-owned land as surplus real property” can be found here.
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KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.