Swope Health announces a new edition of its podcast, One on One with Swope Health, featuring Melesa Johnson, Jackson County prosecutor.
Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.
In this conversation, Johnson reflects on approaching her first 100 days in office. She talks about her priority to improve the relationship with the Police Department, some of the early challenges in the job, and the changes she is implementing.
“I feel like things are going well,” she said, “and I’m going to keep putting my best foot forward.” She said her relationship with KCPD Chief Stacey Graves is “rooted in honesty and truth,” and off to a good start. She also noted already strong relationships with Deputies on the police force stemming from her prior role as Director of Public Safety for the City of Kansas City and her involvement in SAVE KC, the focused deterrence initiative.
One of her earliest decisions to meet with controversy was her determination not to prosecute the Independence police officer involved in the November 2024 shooting that resulted in the deaths of a mother and her infant child. Johnson said she relied upon the law to guide her decision, and noted she explained the process in a 16-page letter and met with the civil rights community, media, and others to discuss the decision.
“Transparency is important to me,” she said, adding that her office is ramping up how it communicates with the public. She said she wanted to talk about every guilty plea, charge, action and initiative taken by her office.
The conversation also touched on restorative justice, providing resources to those facing challenges of addiction or mental health as crime prevention tactic, and the county’s COMBAT program. In addition, the conversation touches domestic violence cases, her office’s new crime strategies unit focusing on property crimes, and challenges at the city-owned Linwood Shopping Center at 31st and Prospect, an area that has been a focus for crime, drug-dealing, panhandling, and prostitution.
Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/Z_0LVjQgi7s
