Community Backed Anti-Drug Anti-Crime Anti-Violence Tax
  1. Firearm Violence Represents A Public Health Crisis

    Trauma Surgeons Have Seen Gun Violence Carnage Up Close—And It Is Personal


    The words of the trauma surgeons who had threated countless gunshot wounds carried a lot of weight during a KU Medical Center symposium about the epidemic of firearm violence across the nation (and in our own community). But the one non-surgeon who spoke during the day-long event really struck a chord when she said, “Our kids are worrying about being shot in their schools. How many are going to have PTSD? Our kids are thinking like kids in a war-torn nation."
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  1. There are no easy answers for stopping all this violence, but we must keep seeking solutions

    Reducing Violence Requires Working Together


    As we do the grim calculations (nine homicides in 10 days, 87 thus far this year) let’s remember a name goes with each of those numbers.  As we mourn those taken from us, we cannot expect any one person or group alone—not the police, the courts, the schools—to reduce the violence in our neighborhoods. It’s going to take working together to make a real and meaningful difference.
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  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.
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  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: This Ain't Candy
    "Who eats just one Gummy Bear?" Overeating edibles can cause severe reactions.

    » Part 5: Just A Coincidence?
    Overdose deaths on the rise during same time states have been legalizing marijuana.
  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.
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  1. #STRIVINTogether

STRIVING Together To Reduce Violence In Neighborhoods

Initiative Focuses On Need For Joint Effort To Reduce Violence In Neighborhoods

This COMBAT initiative brings together school administrators, police officers, elected officials, mental health professionals, social workers, faith-based leaders and concerned citizens to address violence in Jackson County’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. 

With a focus on developing a collaborative, comprehensive and coordinated plan in each “hot spot,” STRIVIN’ recognizes that no one individual or single agency can “save a neighborhood.” It takes working together—striving together—to make any neighborhood a safe place to call home.
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