Kansas City Activists Demand Taxpayer Cash As 'Alternative' To Jail

It might be tempting to laugh off this proposal . . . In fact, it's VERY SERIOUS and might garner AN EPIC RANSOM of taxpayer cash without much debate.

Here's the premise of the "anti-crime" promotion hoping to garner MILLIONS worth of cash availible in this year's budget:

"This week, Decarcerate KC is launching a vision for REACH KC, a Pre-Arrest Diversion and alternative community response program that would divert people away from arrest and into resources, care, and long-term support. If this program is adopted and fully funded by City Council, it will be the first of its kind in KC, and mark a leap toward ending our city’s reliance on policing and incarceration."

Background quote and a peek that this fight is also about TAXPAYER CASH and not just social justice: 

"Decarcerate KC stopped $6 million from going to design costs for a new municipal jail—a city jail that would be in addition to the Jackson County Jail already under construction on 40 HWY. We wanted to see the city make a plan for resources that go beyond the city’s current reliance on the courts and incarceration. As the year progressed, we pursued transformative Alternatives to Incarceration.

"As part of our campaign to reshape the conversation around incarceration in Kansas City, we fought for and won Kansas City’s first Alternatives to Incarceration Commission. Earlier this year, this commission recommended a Pre-Arrest Diversion program that would include alternative response teams as a way to invest in people–diverting them into resources instead of funneling them into jails."

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

New Pre-Arrest Diversion Program Is An Investment in Kansas City

Newly proposed in Kansas City, REACH KC would create alternative community response teams that connect people to resources instead of jail.