KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) — A bizarre incident at a Prospect Avenue grocery store has residents and business owners angry, but it’s not the first time, as they say the problem isn’t going away and is blighting the area.
It happened recently at Sun Fresh: A naked woman ran into the store and started throwing things off the shelves.
They went to City Hall and demanded changes as the city was considering an ordinance to fund an internment camp.
Councilwoman Melissa Robinson introduced the ordinance for a vote in November. It would have extended a quarter percent sales tax on capital improvements and public safety for 32 years.
This would enable the funding of a youth correctional centre with a substance abuse facility, low-access accommodation and transitional housing for the homeless.
“I’m concerned that people who commit violent crimes are only detained for a few hours and then released back onto the streets to harm other people,” Robinson said. “This is about making sure people don’t harm themselves or others.”
However, the Council voted to extend the measure to 15 years and put it to a vote in April 2025. It will be negotiated again in 30 days.
“We cannot wait. Our community is suffering. Today we had the opportunity to act now,” Robinson said. “We often say that delays are denied, but at least we were able to move things forward in some way. We go to bed comfortably at night as council members. But there are so many people who are being terrorized in their community right now. That is not a good feeling.”
Mayor Quinton Lucas opposed putting the ammunition on the November ballot, saying more details needed to be released before the decision was put to voters.
“We need to make sure we have a location, we need to make sure we have a development plan. We believe voters deserve concrete information,” Lucas said.
Robinson presented three possible locations: near KCI, East Bottoms or on US 40 Highway near I-70.
Lucas also suggested using the 8th floor of the Kansas City Police Headquarters as a detection center for the time being.
“I think we could have more space and more detention on the 8th floor within a few months, and after that we would look to a more comprehensive detention facility operated by the city of Kansas City,” Lucas said.
Lucas and others agreed that a detention center was necessary, but said working with other partners in the city would go beyond that.
“Look, nobody wants to be the toughest person, but we want to make sure that when someone commits bad deeds, they have to sit down for a while to stop that behavior,” Lucas said.
For people like Emmet Pierson Jr., the owner of Sun Fresh where the woman’s video was taken, it’s been a frustrating wait.
“I want to see this change,” Pierson Jr. said. “If nothing happens, my board and staff will explore other options.”
Pierson Jr. said violent or disturbing things happen in or near his store every day.
“My customers are down because of it; our sales are down because of it,” Pierson Jr. said. “Nobody wants to go through all that to spend their hard-earned money on healthy food. But you have to go through a war zone to get there.”
Pierson Jr. testified at City Hall and said that a properly equipped detention center would play a significant role in solving the problem.
“It’s a recurring theme: The police come and say they can’t do anything because they have no place to take them. That trickles down to the security people. It’s like broken windows: ‘I see one and it keeps going,'” Pierson Jr. said.
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