February 2025 SKCA Meeting

Hear directly from top city and county law enforcement and public safety officials about their plans to reduce violent crime such as homicides and robberies and property crime such as home and business burglaries and what you can do to stay safer at our monthly public meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, February 10, in the community room of the front building of the South Patrol Police Campus, 9701 Marion Park Dr.

New Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Melesa Johnson will explain her initiatives to reduce violent and property crime by focusing on persistent offenders and building stronger working relationships with all police departments in the county and with the sheriff’s department.

Johnson has publicly committed to pursue state felony charges when warranted in domestic violence cases that too often can result in serious injuries or fatalities.  She has said in the past too many serious domestic violence cases in the county have ended up in municipal court as just city ordinance violations.

She also has committed that whenever there is adequate evidence her office will pursue serious state charges for the barrage of dangerous and sometimes deadly celebratory and indiscriminate gunfire that often plagues KCMO and surrounding cities on holidays such as the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve and when there are major Chiefs victories.

Until recently unless it could be proven that someone had been killed or injured by such irresponsible behavior it generally was just considered to be a city ordinance violation.

But last year the Missouri General Assembly finally passed Blair’s Law named for 11-year-old Blair Shanahan Lane who was killed here by celebratory gunfire during the July 4 holiday in 2011 while playing in the yard which made recklessly discharging a firearm within or into any city limits a serious state offense.

The law which was championed for five years by State Representative Mark Sharp makes the first offense a misdemeanor punishable by incarceration not to exceed a year. The second such offense is a felony punishable by incarceration up to four years, and any subsequent offenses are felonies punishable by incarceration up to seven years.   The law went into effect on August 28, 2024, after being signed by the governor.

Lace Cline, the new Director of Public Safety in the Office of KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas, will speak about her plans to work with city departments, other agencies and community members using an interdisciplinary approach to make this a safer city.

Cline is a former assistant prosecuting attorney with the Jackson County prosecutor’s office and a former circuit attorney with the circuit attorney’s office in the City of St. Louis where she prosecuted a variety of serious offenses including crimes against children, homicides and other violent offenses.  

Major Kari Thompson, the new commander of the Kansas City Police Department’s South Patrol Division, will speak about recent crime trends in south Kansas City and specific steps people can take to protect their safety and the safety of their property.

Thompson, the former commander of the East Patrol Division who oversaw a significant reduction in crime during her command of East Patrol which is a relatively high crime area of the city, more recently served as the commander of KCPD’s citywide Community Engagement Division.

She also will ask people attending to let her know of any potential criminal activity or dangerous conditions in their immediate neighborhoods that KCPD may be unaware of.  Such reports may be anonymous.

All speakers will take questions from the audience.