Nearly a year after winning election, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson is championing the SAVE KC initiative to reduce violent crime.
The focused deterrence program reaches out to at-risk individuals to offer resources – including housing, relocation, and employment – in an effort to steer them away from illegal activity.
These “call-ins” include conversations with community members with similar lived experiences, including formerly incarcerated individuals and families affected by gun violence.
“I can get up and say, you can change your life as much as I want to, but I've never been to prison, I've never been in a gang, and I've never shot anybody,” Johnson said. “You need a level of credibility to really make the message hit, and so that's why we have the variety of speakers.”
But Johnson is continuing to take a tough tone.
“Either you change your life, or we will happily change it for you, because we have a community that we have to answer to,” she said.
Since taking office in January, domestic violence has been a point of concern for Johnson. Kansas City was on track to see a record year for homicides linked to domestic violence.
“You know, it's been important to me, especially since I've begun my administration, is to figure out, how can we charge cases before they reach the level of loss of life,” she said.
Shortly after taking office, Johnson implemented a policy change providing all county agencies and municipal prosecutors with domestic violence criteria – including stitches, patterns of stalking, and more – that warrant consideration for felony charges.
Previously, 90% of domestic violence cases were charged in municipal courts as an ordinance violation.
In April, Johnson joined Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves to discuss a significant increase of domestic violence homicides.
According to a recently launched domestic violence dashboard on the county prosecutor’s website, approximately 70% of cases received are being charged.
Property crime is another priority, with copper thefts increasing due to the tariffs on imports.
Johnson said her office is working closely with law enforcement and has been able to charge 87% of all copper cases submitted this year.
“We value every category of case, not just the homicides, not just the assaults and non-fatal shootings, but absolutely property crime, because that is how the majority of people in our community will be victimized through a crime,” she said.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call 1-816-HOTLINE, which is staffed by advocates in Kansas City.
- Melesa Johnson, Jackson County prosecutor
