Swope Health announces a new edition of its podcast, One on One with Swope Health, featuring a conversation with 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.
Johnson first participated in a One-on-One with Swope Health interview in her role as the Mayor’s director of public safety, and again in a conversation marking her first 100 days in office. At the time of this conversation, Johnson is approaching the one-year mark of her term in office.
“I’m pretty proud of the progress we’ve been able to make,” she said. “If you know anything about crime, you know we didn’t get here overnight and so we’re certainly not going to fix it overnight. Incremental progress is still progress. Baby steps are still steps forward.”
One area of focus and progress is domestic violence. Johnson noted that in her earlier position as director of public safety she had learned that 90 percent of domestic violence cases are charged at the Municipal level. On her second week as Prosecutor, Johnson sent a letter to law enforcement and municipal prosecutors outlining the factors that could elevate a municipal charge to a state or felony domestic violence charge.
That effort resulted in a 13 percent increase in the number of cases referred to the county. She also noted the details of this increase are presented to the public on a new Domestic Violence Dashboard. Her next step is to incorporate property crime, harassment and other categories of cases that may have a connection to domestic violence.
Johnson also discusses SAVE KC, a focused deterrence strategy to identify individuals who are likely to be impacted by violence or subject to group-related violence. Those individuals are invited to a “Call In” meeting where law enforcement provides a warning of enhanced enforcement and consequences. At the same meeting, individuals formerly incarcerated or involved in criminal activity or violence share personal stories, often addressing grief and pain. Finally, social service organizations are present to offer assistance on a new path with job resources, housing, education or other services.
“We know we can’t expect you to put the gun down if we are not prepared to put something else in your hand,” she said. Early evidence is showing reductions in violence associated with these identified individuals.
The conversation also addresses actions addressing property crime, the development of the county jail, and a new program to expand diversion options while providing accountability.
Listen to the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/tiQcB0uGuo8
