Kansas City Considers Old Jail Reopening Amid Crime Spike 2024

Actually . . . This is worth repeating . . .

A BIG part of the problem is that Mayor & Council have been dragging their feet when it comes to building a new jail because locking up more people doesn't fit the narrative of MILLIONS worth of taxpayer cash directed to "community-based" anti-crime efforts . . . When in fact . . . It turns out that locking up crooks is much simpler than hiring friends with sociology degrees to work no-show jobs. 

Here's another update on the topic . . .

It has been 10 years since Kansas City had its own jail, but city officials are considering a move to re-open a jail at Kansas City Police headquarters.

Ever since Kansas City stopped housing detainees in the Jackson County Detention Center, the city has been sending inmates to the Vernon and Johnson County jails in mid-Missouri. Those 105 beds cost the city about $1.8 million a year. Shipping those inmates more than an hour from Kansas City is a burden on the inmate and their families, Patterson Hazley said. With detainees in out-of-town jails, the city can’t “control the conditions,” including getting people physical and mental health treatment, she said.

The discussion about what to do with city detainees and inmates is happening while the county builds a new $256.5 million jail on 40 Highway near I-70. The city and county discussed building a joint facility but those talks fell through — so now two new jails will be built. The municipal jail could cost between $179 million and $195 million.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

With nowhere to send Kansas City inmates, officials may reopen old jail inside KCPD headquarters

Kansas City officials want to reconstitute the jail on the top floor of KCPD headquarters. The city closed the jail in 2015, and - after an agreement with Jackson County fell through - now sends detainees to mid-Missouri.