On April 8, Kansas Citians will vote on a renewal of the quarter-cent Public Safety Sales Tax for a period of 20 years. City leaders propose that the revenue be used to meet ongoing public safety infrastructure needs, address long standing deficiencies with the 9-1-1 system, and to construct a new Municipal Rehabilitation and Detention Center adjacent to the new Jackson County Detention Center at I-70 and 40 Hwy. The renewal has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 99 and the International Association of Firefighters Locals 42 and 3808.
For the last 15 years, the tax funded the construction of KCPD’s Regional Police Academy and Shoal Creek Station in the Northland, the renovation of the South Patrol Station in South Kansas City, and the development of the Leon Jordan Campus on the City’s Eastside where the Regional Crime Lab processes thousands of DNA samples and rape kits a year. Renewing the sales tax will allow city leaders to prioritize the police department’s ongoing infrastructure needs over the next 20 years.
Our 9-1-1 system is underfunded and broken. Wait times are too long, staffing shortages persist, and there are inefficiencies that we need to correct. Call taker jobs are difficult and traumatizing. These jobs need to be better paying and continue as union jobs for worker protection. Far too often, Kansas City residents dial 9-1-1 in an emergency only to be met with long wait times. In situations of domestic violence or danger, every second counts. Renewing the sales tax will allow city leaders to finally address this long-standing problem.
Since closing the municipal jail in 2009, the City has lacked an adequate detention strategy for those prosecuted through the municipal criminal justice system. The City currently contracts with Vernon and Johnson Counties, Missouri, for 105 beds to house its inmates. In 2023, sixty-four percent of the inmate population was detained for violent crimes such as domestic assault.
The City does not have enough beds to meet its needs and inmates who are a public safety risk are often released prematurely to the dismay of their victims. The City has little control over their care, which is important considering recent allegations of abuse and mistreatment. These individuals are detained over an hour away, driving up transportation costs for the City, and making it difficult for their families and attorneys to visit. The status quo is unsafe and unsustainable.
For the last year, I chaired the City Council committee responsible for making recommendations on the Rehabilitation and Detention Center. Several important goals dominated our work. First, that the facility will be right-sized to prevent over-incarceration and waste of tax payer dollars. The recommendation to build a 250-bed facility is based on the work of experienced consultants who conducted a detailed forensic analysis of our long-term bed need using a Department of Justice approved model.
Second, the facility must be part of a comprehensive approach to address the serious public safety challenges impacting our neighborhoods and businesses. We unequivocally cannot arrest or detain our way out of substance abuse, mental illness, or homelessness. There are proven alternatives to incarceration that can decrease the need for detention beds, improve public safety, and save taxpayer dollars.
We will continue to provide specialty courts, such as Drug Court and Mental Health Court, that provide social programs, case management, and reduce recidivism. We have invested in low-barrier shelter beds to reduce the obstacles that prevent the unhoused from accessing services. We are partnering with the Missouri Department of Mental Health to build a 200-bed mental health hospital where the City will have 25 beds for inmates suffering from mental illness. We are funding REACH, the City’s alternative response program, which focuses on responding to nonviolent calls for service (often involving substance abuse and mental illness) without deploying the criminal justice system.
Although these important efforts reduce the number of beds needed at the Rehabilitation and Detention Center, there will still be a need for a detention strategy. Unfortunately, our City continues to experience unacceptable levels of crime. From homicides and non-fatal shootings (which are prosecuted at the state level) to domestic assaults and property crimes (which occur at the municipal level with high frequency), our neighborhoods and businesses cannot thrive without safety. In a perfect world, jails and prisons would not exist. In our imperfect world, we can create a system that is more humane for inmates, more just for victims, and fiscally responsible for taxpayers.
A renewal of the Public Safety Sales Tax will allow us to continue making critical investments in our City’s safety and momentum while creating more union construction jobs. The result will be a better funded 9-1-1 system, a comprehensive rehabilitation and detention strategy, ongoing support for Police, Fire, and EMS, and a safer city for all Kansas Citians.
Councilman Crispin Rea represents Kansas City’s 4th District-at-Large and is a member of the City Council’s Finance, Governance, and Public Safety Committee.
Crispin’s service to the community has included volunteerism and board membership with the Mattie Rhodes Center, Police Athletic League, Mothers in Charge, and the UMKC Law Foundation. He was previously elected to the Jackson County Democratic Committee representing the Historic Northeast’s 13th Ward. Crispin is a proud dues paying union member of IAFF Local 42.
Crispin was born in Kansas City and grew up the youngest of three children on Kansas City’s Eastside. Crispin’s mother enjoyed working at the Local Investment Commission (LINC) where she provided after-school programming and social services for other low-income families. His father was a forklift driver at the United States Postal Service for 36 years and was a proud member of the Postal Mail Handlers Union.
He was awarded an athletic scholarship to Park University and was a first-generation college graduate earning his bachelor's degree in political science and public Administration. While finishing college, he began work in a staff position in the Mayor’s Office of Kansas City.
In 2010, he was elected to the Kansas City Public Schools Board as the youngest member ever elected to serve on the board and the only Hispanic board member during his term. He went on to serve as Vice President and was a leader of the reform movement that brought much needed stability to the school district.
After obtaining a master's degree in public administration from UMKC’s Bloch School of Management and a Juris Doctorate from UMKC’s School of Law, Crispin began his career as a prosecuting attorney. He served eight years in the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, spending most of his time in the Special Victims Unit prosecuting those who sexually and physically abused women and children.
Before becoming a prosecutor, Crispin was a case worker with the Kansas City No Violence Alliance. His work aimed at keeping high-risk individuals from becoming victims or perpetrators of violent crime by offering resources and programs to build a new life free of violent crime.
He and his wife Emma are active members of the Valentine Neighborhood Association and enjoy spending time with their rescue pit bulls, Indie and Lucy, and their newborn son.
