KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker issued a statement Monday in support of “needed change in America’s criminal justice system."
Baker, who also serves as chair for the Missouri Democratic Party, acknowledged in a statement that prosecutors and other staff members from her office “ joined the lawful protests on Sunday afternoon at Mill Creek Park near the Plaza as a way to honor the life of George Floyd."
Baker is calling for several immediate changes, including limited use of secret grand-jury proceedings in cases involving killings or possible misconduct by police officers.
Within the last few weeks,Baker has decried a lack of cooperation from the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department with respect to providing probable cause statements and working with the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office on review of incidents involving officers.
Additionally, Baker called for five other “key first steps” on Monday:
- Independent reviews from neutral investigators outside the police department for all incidents involving law enforcement officers;
- Citizen input on contract provisions with the police union, especially as it relates to special treatment of officers during investigations (e.g. being allowed several days before having to make a statement);
- Enhanced “procedural justice and diversity training” for prosecutors and other people involved in the criminal justice system;
- A greater focus on community policing “to heal and restore community trust;”
- The recruitment of minority officers from the community to be policed.
“The time for more study has passed,” Baker said in a statement. “We already have a path forward. We only need to move forward. We must begin to methodically enact and build on these reforms.”
Baker noted that these reforms were proposed in the wake of the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country in response to the shooting death of Michael Brown by former police officer Darren Wilson.
The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys proposed the above framework in 2017, building off or following the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, which was established in December 2014 by the Obama administration.
“But unfortunately those reforms largely were not enacted,” Baker said.
Baker promised to announce additional reform efforts in the coming days against a backdrop of ongoing — sometimes violent — protests in cities across the country.
Floyd was killed last week when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been fired and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, pinned his neck to the asphalt with a knee for nearly nine minutes before Floyd died.
There have been large and sometimes tense protests in Kansas City for four consecutive days.
The most intense protests have been just near the Country Club Plaza, which had several businesses vandalized and a few looted Saturday night.
The shopping district closed Sunday and Monday amid the protests and to allow store owners to assess damage.
Four people have been charged with stealing in connection with Saturday’s events, and KCPD said more than 150 people were arrested over the weekend in connection with the protests.
