Community Backed Anti-Drug Anti-Crime Anti-Violence Tax
  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.
    » MORE

  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."
    » MORE
  1. TWEP Public Meeting Flier


    Input Needed For KCI Project


    The construction of a new single terminal at Kansas City International Airport presents a host of new job opportunities. To gauge the needs of those who could pursue these opportunities, the Terminal Workforce Enhancement Programs (TWEP) is currently conducting an online survey and will be hosting public meetings throughout the metropolitan area Aug. 26-Sept. 11. The areas of focus range from training to extended child care and public transportation. 
    » DOWNLOAD TWEP FLYER (PDF)
  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. » 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