Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker wants the police department stop sending her office low-level drug cases and instead of focusing on violent crime.
Baker said her office is creating narrow guidelines for drug cases and will charge them when a defendant poses a public safety risk.
“But going after a violent crime by going after a low level offenses has high impact, and perhaps not the one that we’re actually after,” Baker said during the police board monthly meeting.
“Perhaps it’s one that’s actually harmful.”
And then, let s take a more nuanced look at this dilemma from TV news . . .
Local civil rights leaders want Department of Justice to investigate the Kansas City Police Department kmbc.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kmbc.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Malcolm Johnson s fatal shooting by Kansas City police sent to prosecutors, MSHP says Bill Lukitsch, The Kansas City Star
Jun. 30 The investigation of the fatal police shooting of a 31-year-old Kansas City man whose death has been highly criticized by local community activists and faith leaders has been sent to the Jackson County Prosecutor s Office for review, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Earlier this month, the highway patrol announced its investigation of the shooting had concluded and turned over to the agency s higher-ups in Jefferson City. Sgt. Bill Lowe, a spokesman for the highway patrol, said the case file was transferred to the Jackson County Prosecutor s Office last week.
Jun. 4 JEFFERSON CITY The Republican chair of the Missouri House committee that oversees the state's prison system said Friday he is sending a letter to Gov. Mike Parson requesting a pardon for Kevin Strickland, the Kansas City man incarcerated for more than four decades for a 1978 triple homicide that prosecutors now say he did not commit. Rep. Andrew McDaniel of Deering, who chairs the .
Man who served 42 years in prison for triple murder is innocent, prosecutor says All those who have reviewed the evidence in recent months agree Kevin Strickland deserves to be exonerated, officials say.
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A Missouri prosecutor released a statement on Monday proclaiming that a man who has been in prison for more than 42 years is innocent.
“All those who have reviewed the evidence in recent months agree
Kevin Strickland deserves to be exonerated,” said Jackson County Prosecutor
Jean Peters Baker. “This is a profound error we must correct now.”
Kevin Strickland, shown in his 1978 mug shots, has served more than 42 years in prison for a triple-murder he did not commit, according to prosecutors who now want him freed. (Midwest Innocence Project)