The Kansas City Star’s endorsement in the Jackson County prosecutor election | Opinion

In November, Jackson County voters will elect either Melesa Johnson or Tracey Chappell as the county’s first Black female prosecutor. Historical footnote aside, both of these candidates are well-qualified African American women capable of becoming the county’s top law enforcement official.

In the race for Jackson County prosecutor, our recommendation is Johnson.

Johnson, a former assistant prosecutor in the office of outgoing prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, is Kansas City’s first director of public safety.

Baker did not seek reelection, nor did she endorse either candidate.

After years in the private sector, Johnson started her City Hall career in 2021 as a special adviser to Mayor Quinton Lucas. She was also deputy chief of staff and general counsel in the Mayor’s office before becoming public safety director.

In her current role, Johnson has developed meaningful working relationships with police, prosecutors, civic leaders and community-based organizations throughout the county, a development we see as a major plus.

Chappell, a defense attorney, is another change agent. In 2018, she became the first African American prosecuting attorney in Blue Springs. Mayor Carson Ross appointed Chappell to a position she held until May of 2022, according to city officials. As a municipal prosecutor and defense attorney, Chappell has considerable experience in the courtroom, a factor we did not overlook in this process.

It is our belief that either candidate on the ballot in the general election Nov. 5 would make a fine prosecutor. Chappell’s tough-on-crime positions aren’t necessarily disqualifying — Kansas City business owners on the wrong side of a rash of recent break-ins and burglaries would surely support this stance. But it was Johnson’s fresh and innovative approach to transformative justice that aligns more with our vision of a safer community.

Charging crime, working with law enforcement

In an interview with this Board, Johnson said the main difference between her and Chappell is how they each plan to address crime. She alluded to what most of us already know: Jackson County cannot arrest its way out of violence, a concept in which we agree.

“And so we are at a pivotal point where we can elect a perspective and a platform that is actually going to cause more harm and it’s not realistic — we can’t incarcerate everybody,” Johnson said. “Or we can elect somebody that understands the need for prosecution for charging more cases, for more accountability but is also going to make sure that we’re restoring our communities as well.”

On the campaign trail, Chappell challenged Johnson’s experience as a prosecutor — Johnson was assistant prosecuting attorney for Jackson County for just over two years — and questioned Johnson’s plans to address violence.

People responsible for Kansas City’s violent crime rate and a recent spate of business break-ins must be taken off the street and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, according to Chappell. She said she isn’t opposed to diversion programs but did not support Johnson’s planned opportunity court for non-violent offenders.

“I’ve seen a lot, experienced a lot,” Chappell said. “But I really feel like with the right person in office we can turn this city around.”

As proponents of successful violence prevention programs here (the Kansas City No Violence Alliance or NoVA) and elsewhere (Omaha 360 in Nebraska), we believe in the holistic approach to combating violence that Johnson champions.

Relationships matter. And a healthy partnership between the Jackson County prosecutor’s office and the Kansas City Police Department remains a priority. And it is our determination that Johnson is much more suited to continue building those bridges between the two law enforcement agencies.

Violence prevention strategies

As public safety director, Johnson is focused on violence prevention strategies. The position was created by Lucas. In a city that has seen gun violence and homicide rates reach historic levels, that appointment and the experience that comes with it cannot be ignored.

In her role, Johnson oversees the city’s Partners for Peace program, an anti-violence strategy with a focus on collaboration. Partners for Peace brings together not only Kansas City police and Jackson County prosecutors, but Jackson County COMBAT staff, community leaders and community-based social service providers as well.

Under Partners for Peace, every nonfatal gunshot victim in Kansas City is offered alternatives to violence, a key element of the program that we all should support.

Further, Johnson helped develop SAVE KC, a focused-deterrence strategy which mirrors NoVA by offering services and alternative solutions to violence. Former Police Chief Rick Smith ended that anti-violence initiative in 2019. In the years since, the number of homicides in Kansas City has steadily gone up.

If elected, Johnson said she plans to start a standalone property crimes prosecution division that can also serve as a clinic for local law students. The goal is for students to gain practical experience and expose them to the profession. The clinic would also address the uptick in property crimes.

“Property crimes are not victimless crimes,” Johnson said. “We know too many people who, if their car is stolen, that means their child loses their spot in their educational institution. These are not victimless crimes and our small business community is suffering… so we have to ramp up our property crimes prosecution.”

3rd District resident’s unique backstory

Johnson’s backstory is unique. She attended Bishop Miege High School, Columbia University, an Ivy League school in New York City, and law school at Mizzou. She’s a decorated attorney who won the Missouri Lawyers Media Up & Coming award in 2017. The same year, she was recognized as one of Ink Magazine’s 30 Under 30.

As a lifelong Kansas City resident — Johnson still lives in the city’s 3rd Council District where she grew up — Johnson is firmly entrenched here and has witnessed some of the violent crime that has plagued the city for decades.

In our interview with Johnson, she estimated that she has had to take cover from about a dozen incidents involving gunfire, including the deadly shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade in February at Union Station.

“The Chiefs parade marked the 12th time I’ve been in the immediate vicinity of a shootout,” Johnson said. “And so when I say I have passion for this work, it is informed by my lived experience. I can take off my Ivy League hat, my prosecutor hat, my law hat and put on my community hat, which enables me to do things in the public safety space that a lot of other people cannot.”

Because of her lived, educational and professional experiences, we recommend Johnson for Jackson County prosecutor.

This story was originally published October 18, 2024 at 5:08 AM.