KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County will have a new prosecutor after Election Day.
This year's election is historic because, for the first time, voters will choose a Black woman.
Both candidates, Melesa Johnson and Tracey Chappell, have backgrounds in law and public safety.
One of the women will replace Jean Peters-Baker, Jackson County's prosecutor of 12 years.
Peters-Baker chose not to run for re-election and didn't endorse either candidate.
Meet Tracey Chappell
Tracey Chappell, the Republican candidate, started her career making history.
Chappell co-founded an all-female-led law firm and became the first woman head prosecutor for Blue Springs.
"I'm currently in private practice doing a lot of criminal defense work in Clay County, Platte County, Cass County," she said.
Chappell said she is ready to get to work if voters choose her as their prosecutor.
Her first stop would be police departments.
"In my first 30 days, I will meet with every police chief to tell them we are open for business," she said. "When they bring cases to my office and they're felonies, even if they are missing certain pieces of information, it is my job to teach my prosecutors to get on the phone with that detective."
In Chappell's opinion, there are plenty of avenues that exist outside of incarceration. However, repeat offenders won't get much grace from her office.
"Let me tell you ... make no mistake about it ... if you are a repeat offender, you are telling me you didn't get my second chance, you didn't get my warning," Chappell said. "When you don't get my warning, it's like my kids — if you didn't get it the first time, let me assist you so you will always remember what I told you."
Making history for Chappell means sharpening her staff of prosecutors, who will work alongside her, and laying the groundwork for solutions in every zip code.
"When I talk about community prosecution, I mean having a satellite office with our prosecutors in those policing jurisdictions. It won’t be every day. It will be certain days that we will set out to be in those divisions," she said. "When we do that, we want to be able to give police officers answers they have to their questions. I did it in Blue Springs. When I was there, I was staffed in the same department as police officers. Time and time again, they would come in and say, 'What about this case?'"
Chappell thinks a prosecutor can also play a more intentional role when a juvenile judge is deciding whether to certify a juvenile as an adult.
Meet Melesa Johnson
Melesa Johnson, the Democratic candidate, worked as an assistant prosecutor under the administration of Jean Peters-Baker.
Johnson is also Kansas City's first public safety director. In her position she oversees several community based taskforces like Partners for Peace and KCMO's Multidisciplinary Public Safety Task Force.
She agreed to meet at 31st and Prospect Avenue, an area she's lived her entire life.
Some of her memories growing up in her neighborhood involve being a witness to violence.
"I vividly remember being young and 11 years old ... [there was] a shootout at the BP gas station, and I had to get on my stomach and stay still because my coaches wanted me to be okay," Johnson said. "It was that moment I started to wonder why are things this way?"
Johnson talks extensively about creating a new property crime division with law students aiding prosecutors.
"We do need to prosecute more felony cases in this corridor. the shoplifting over $750, the property damage over $750."
She believes in continuing programs like focused deterrence to advocate for victims while offering chances for those likely to commit crimes to change their lives.
"Change your life or I will change it for you. We are going to ramp up accountability in this community," Johnson said.
There's a lot she believes needs to be done when it comes to crime prevention and handling cases.
"Increase our clearance rates, reduce dismissals, investing in cell phone technology, resuming charging drug cases across the board, starting a brand new property crimes prosecution division," Johnson said.
As far as additional resources outside of incarceration, she has thoughts on how a prosecutor could advocate for specific solutions.
"We need a lot of workforce development, mentorship programs, food insecurity programs to truly deliver the promise of public safety," she said. "This area of Jackson County couldn't be a more perfect representation and example of why we need to attack this issue from every angle."
Like Chappell, Johnson said she is committed to making sure juveniles who commit serious crimes are certified as adults.
Johnson doesn't think crime can be tackled from a courthouse, which is why she emphasized being a "modern-day prosecutor" in her campaign.
To her, that means making "transformative justice" a priority by giving nonviolent offenders a chance to change.
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KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including neighborhoods in Overland Park, Shawnee and Mission. Share your story idea with Alyssa