KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City plans to build a modular jail with 100 beds. City Council approved $22 million for design and construction at a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
In May, the council asked the city manager to look for temporary solutions with a memo that mentioned the World Cup coming next summer. The temporary facility is expected to be in time for the World Cup.
“A new jail specifically for just that is just bonkers. What else could we be doing with $25 million?” Decarcerate’s KC’s Chris Lopez asked.
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However, no council members mentioned the event as an impetus for building now in their remarks on Thursday. Instead, they said it was about being more humane and improving public safety after 16 years of work arounds they now say weren’t really working. Kansas City closed its jail in 2009.
In August, Kansas City authorized a pair of one-year contracts to continue to house inmates as it has done for several years in Johnson and Vernon County, totaling $1.8 million.
“We have a duty to have a detention facility here in Kansas City. I actually think it’s inhumane to have Vernon and Johnson Co. where we are spending three hours going back to some facilities,” Councilman Nathan Willett said.
“I haven’t talked to any neighborhood or business owner at all who says safety is not a concern. It is the number one issue in our city,” Councilwoman Ryana Parks-Shaw said.
Voters approved a public safety sales tax earlier this year to fund construction of a permanent jail. But that won’t open for three or four years.
Debate similar to public comment at a committee meeting on Tuesday continued in the hallways at Thursday’s meeting.
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“Research has been done that jails don’t solve any crime problems. We know that affordable housing, healthcare being able to move around the city freely that is what actually helps people,” Lopez said.
“Right now, we have no deterrent for a lot of the petty crimes city crimes. They get committed and there’s no place to take anybody,” Jeff Owens, Crossroads Community Association Vice President, said.
Mayor Quinton Lucas voted in favor of the temporary jail but backed up Johnathan Duncan, the only council member who voted against it. Duncan pointed out the public safety sales tax can only fund so much, and they also need fire stations, police equipment and to address issues related to public safety like homelessness and mental health.
“We’re going to have to make a choice at some point. I want to help everything too, but I like the framing, the choices we start making take away the opportunities we have later,” Mayor Lucas said.
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