Vote yes for a new Kansas City jail to help people get their lives back on track | Opinion

I worked at the Municipal Correctional Institution for 15 years — as manager of the social services unit for five years, then superintendent of corrections for 10 years until the city closed us in 2009. The current plan for a 250-bed jail located on city land near the new Jackson County Detention Center at Interstate 70 and U.S. Highway 40 would rectify the disgraceful and inhumane system we have now, in which detainees are driven 50 miles to Vernon County, Missouri, where there they are mistreated and have little or no access to the medical, mental health, and drug and alcohol services so necessary for this population.

MCI was a direct supervision jail, and the entire staff, including me, spent most of our days talking to inmates. We heard about their lives, their families, their hopes and their sorrows. We offered comfort, hope and safety to the inmates. The staff at MCI truly cared about the inmates.

With the help of many nonprofit organizations in the Kansas City community who conducted surveys of the jail population, and through my daily interaction with them, this is what we learned about the inmates, and why Kansas City needs to have our own jail again:

Almost all of the inmates had been abused as children.

Almost all of the inmates were introduced to drugs and alcohol when they were age 8 to 11 by friends and family members, often the same people abusing them saying, “Here, this will make you feel better for what I am doing to you.”

Almost all of the inmates are drug and alcohol abusers

Surveys found that 55% to 60% of the inmates had mental health issues

Most were on the streets by age 13 to 15. When the inmates are on the streets, their lives are dictated by their desire for more drugs and alcohol. Many women describe themselves as “just a $10 whore,” seeking sex work so they can turn around and buy drugs. When they are on the streets, they are often high and as such, a public safety risk. This is the behavior that leads to their violations of city ordinances: trespassing, property damage, resisting public safety officer, shoplifting, domestic violence and subsequent arrests.

While I certainly support the kind of intervention offered by nonprofit groups in Kansas City, and believe in a continuum of diversion opportunities to keep individuals out of jail, including the specialty programs (such as the wellness court and veterans court offered by the municipal courts), a jail is necessary as a last resort for those who are never off drugs long enough to make good decisions about their futures.

A well-run, compassionate jail can offer safety, security and imposed sobriety. When inmates are clean, they can — and do enthusiastically — attend classes that open the doors to a life of sobriety and productivity. They can also get access to badly needed medical and mental health services they don’t have when they are on the streets. Time in jail can have a major positive impact on them, their families and the community as a whole.

I observed these positive changes occurring during my time at Municipal Correctional Institution, so I know what’s possible. Please vote yes on April 8 for the public safety sakes tax to bring back a compassionate detention and rehabilitation center — for the sake of our entire community.