KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) – A bizarre incident at a grocery store on Prospect Street has left residents and store owners shaken, but it’s not the first time this has happened, and residents and store owners say the problem is far from over and continues to ravage the neighborhood.
Recently, there was an incident at Sunfresh where a naked woman ran into the store and started throwing items off the shelves.
As the city considered an ordinance to fund the jail, they went to City Hall and demanded reforms.
City Council Member Melissa Robinson proposed the ordinance for the November ballot, which would extend the .25-cent capital improvements public safety sales tax for 32 years.
It would provide funding for a detention center with substance abuse facilities, low-barrier shelters and transitional housing for the homeless.
“We are concerned that people who commit violent crimes are only being held for a few hours and then released back onto the streets to harm other people,” Robinson said. “This is to ensure that people do not harm themselves or others.”
However, the House voted to amend the bill in 2015 and put it on the ballot in April 2025. It is scheduled to be debated again within the next 30 days.
“We can’t wait. Our community is suffering and today was our chance to act now,” Robinson said. “They say delay is negation, but at least we were able to move things forward in some way. We as city council members can sleep at night with peace of mind. But right now there are many in our community who are scared. It doesn’t feel good.”
Mayor Quinton Lucas opposed putting the ordinance on the November ballot, saying more details needed to be worked out before it went before voters.
“We need to secure the site and make sure there is a development plan in place. I think voters should have the details,” Lucas said.
Robinson offered three possible locations: near KCI, in the East Bottoms or on U.S. 40 Highway near I-70.
Lucas also proposed using the eighth floor of Kansas City Police Headquarters as an investigative center for the time being.
“We believe that we will be able to provide more space, more detention space, on the eighth floor in the coming months, and then we will look at putting in a more substantial detention facility that will be run by the city of Kansas City,” Lucas said.
Lucas and others agreed that a detention center is needed, but said more than that, they need to work with the city’s other partners.
“Nobody wants to be the toughest person ever, but what we want to ensure is that those who commit bad acts have to sit back for a moment and stop that type of behavior a little bit,” Lucas said.
The wait has been frustrating for people like Emmett Pearson Jr., owner of SunFresh, where the woman’s video was recorded.
“I want to change things,” said Pearson Jr. “If nothing happens, my board and staff will look for other opportunities.”
Pearson Jr. said something violent or disturbing happens in or around his store every day.
“It’s caused us to lose customers and sales,” said Pearson Jr. “Nobody wants to go through that trouble to spend their hard-earned money to buy health foods, but they have to go through a war zone to get there.”
Testifying at City Hall, Pearson Jr. said a well-resourced jail would play a key role in solving the problem.
“It’s a recurring theme. When police show up they’re told there’s nothing they can do because there’s nowhere to take them. And that then trickles down to the security guards. It’s like a broken window and they’re like, ‘Once we find one, it’s going to continue,'” Pearson Jr. said.
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