Community Backed Anti-Drug Anti-Crime Anti-Violence Tax
  1. Medical Marijuana Series

    » Part 1: Cause For Concern
    Concerns being raised with dispensaries due to open in 2020.

    » Part 2: Buffer Zones
    Kansas City will allow dispensaries 300 feet from schools.

    » Part 3: When Laws Clash
    Medical marijuana use while living in federally-subsidized housing might result in eviction.

    »Part 4 (July 18): This Ain't Candy
    "Who eats just one Gummy Bear?" Overeating edibles can cause severe reactions.

    » Part 5 (July 22): Just A Coincidence?
    Overdose deaths on the rise during same time states have been legalizing marijuana.
  1. Arrests Made In Jackosn County and Beyond

    Case Illustrates Cartel Activity In Jackson County & Beyond


    What started off as a seemingly simple case—a Kansas City, Kan., undercover police officer asking the Jackson County Drug Task Force with assistance when a drug deal made in Kansas was to be completed in Missouri—turns into a months-long investigation involving multiple federal and local agencies. When it was completed, multiple indictments were made as the case illustrated the reach of Mexican cartels into Jackson County and beyond.
    » MORE
  1. COMBAT Saved My Life

    I'd Be Back In Prison Or Dead


    I'm convinced that I would be back in prison or dead, if I had not gotten drug treatment through a COMBAT-funded program in 2015. Now today I am working to help others start their recovery journeys. The "mess" I had made out of my life can now be a "message" for someone else going through addiction. I want to give them hope, let them know if a guy like me can get clean and stay clean, they can too.
    » MORE
  1. Meth Still Number One Problem

    'Demand' For Meth Remains High In Jackson County


    Each year throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, the Jackson County Drug Task Force and other law enforcement agencies would shut down dozens of meth labs—sometimes more than 100 labs in a single year. With these local supply lines being severed, Mexican cartels have stepped in to fill the void and meet the ongoing “demand” for methamphetamine. The Task Force is striving daily to stop these cartels from feeding Jackson County’s meth addiction—still the county’s No. 1 drug problem.
    » MORE
  1. CALENDAR
  1. FUNDING DISTRIBUTION

COMBAT Funding Pie Chart

Half Toward Enforcement

COMBAT is supported through a quarter-center sales tax that Jackson County voters first approved in 1989 and have since renewed multiple times—the last time being in 2016 when they voted (with record 77% support) extending the COMBAT text another nine years. 

The tax generates more than $20 million a year to support prevention, treatment and anti-violence programs. The County Legislature approved a forumlar to distribute the funding, with half the revenue going toward law enforcement efforts.

A quarter-cent sales tax equates to an extra 25 cents per $100 spend. An estimated 30% of COMBAT revenue is generated by non-Jackson County resident paying the tax when shopping in the county. » MORE

  1. CRIME MAPPING

Crime_Mapping

Where Are COMBAT Resources Needed Most?

Where is COMBAT needed most? Data is now helping dictate how COMBAT resources can best be utilizing. Statistics are being used to generate smart maps that identify the "hot spots" in Jackson County—areas with high concentrations of violence (aggravated assaults, homicides, rapes and robberies).

COMBAT is using these maps to focus COMBAT-funded agencies, social services providers, law enforcement officials, elected leaders, school administrators and others on a collaborative, all-encompassing approach to helping reduce crime and cool down the "hot spots." » MORE