Remember how back in the months leading up to putting their jail tax proposal on the ballot the county commissioners continuously talked about “crime is on the rise in Platte County” and the only media outlet to ever give them any pushback on that claim was The Landmark?
Remember in years past when criminal prosecutions would fall and county officials would advise us not to reach any conclusions because “you really need to look at the data over a three year period” to reach any conclusions? That “three year period” approach was stated to me on many occasions by various county electeds.
Well, we now have totals from the last three years. Here’s what those numbers show:
Overall prosecutions in 2022 numbered 13,341. Overall prosecutions fell in 2023 down to 8,689, a fall of 35 percent. Overall prosecutions in 2024 fell again. Overall criminal prosecutions in Platte County in 2024 (all numbers per reporting year are from Nov. 1 to Oct. 31) fell to 8,449. That is a reduction–notice the word is reduction, not increase–of 4,892 crimes from 2022, which means a reduction of 37 percent over the course of three reporting years. Total crime is down 37 percent in Platte County since 2022.
Wow. Great news for Platte County. Crime prevention is working. At least that’s what county officials should be saying. Instead, we consistently hear politically motivated propaganda from our county officials as they look for ways to get in your pocketbook.
Now, you may hear it reported or stated that felonies increased in 2024 compared to 2023. That’s what the “sky is falling, we need a bigger jail right now” crowd wants you to hear. While it’s true felonies did rise in 2024, from 661 in 2023 to 695 in 2024, that’s not the real story. The real story is that over the all-important three years worth of data, felonies have seen a reduction. There were 729 felonies in the county in 2022 but that number is 695 in 2024, a reduction of nearly five percent. Felony crimes are down five percent in Platte County over a three year period.
A five percent drop in felony crimes over a time when county commissioners and other officials have been telling us that “serious crimes are on the rise in Platte County” is significant and exposes their BS.
Clip and save these numbers, which are straight from the office of Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd.
Don’t let anyone tell you crime is on the rise in Platte County. The numbers show that’s simply not true.
Got a holiday movie recommendation for you. Don’t worry, it’s not a Hallmark or Lifetime flick. This is a comedy that I found it to be laugh out loud funny. My kids alerted me to it over Thanksgiving. I laughed so much that I watched it twice, and this film will now become a Christmas tradition for me.
It’s called Daddy’s Home 2. Stars are Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, John Lithgow and Mel Gibson. Here’s the synopsis via Google: “Father and stepfather Dusty (Wahlberg) and Brad (Ferrell) join forces to make Christmastime perfect for the children. Their newfound partnership soon gets put to the test when Dusty’s old-school macho dad and Brad’s gentle father arrive and turn the holiday upside down. After a sudden change in plans, the four men decide to take the kids to a luxury resort for a fun-filled getaway that turns into a hilarious and chaotic adventure.”
We watched it on Paramount but other streaming services may have it as well. Rated PG-13. It came out back in 2017, so I guess I’m a little behind on movie-watching.
Enjoy. Or not. Let me know what you think.
President Biden pardoned a turkey over Thanksgiving weekend.
The only way currently unpopular Platte County Commissioners can become even more unpopular is for them to decline to allow the voter-approved children’s tax to take effect. As you know, the quarter cent children’s tax for mental health services was approved by voters, with 56.46 percent in favor to 43.54 percent opposed. A question winning by nearly 13 percent is a mandate by today’s political standards, so failing to follow the will of the voters isn’t going to do much to improve public’s perception of commissioners Scott Fricker, Dagmar Wood and Joe Vanover.
Elections haven’t been kind to those three in recent months, which tells you this group doesn’t exactly have their finger on the pulse of the community. In August, the county commission’s beloved massive jail tax proposal was molly-whopped by voters with 62 percent opposed to only 38 percent in favor. Then all three commissioners loudly opposed the children’s tax, which passed by a comfortable 12-13 percent margin. And don’t forget that back in August Wood was defeated by Marcus Farr in a Republican primary for county assessor, despite the fact she outspent him by about a five to one ratio. Vanover won his re-election in an August primary, mainly because he was challenged by a political newcomer who either didn’t know how or wasn’t willing to take advantage of the extreme negative public perception of Vanover’s prison palace proposal that was on the same ballot.
I’ve asked a few folks inside the county commission’s working circle if the commissioners are serious about shutting down the children’s tax approved by voters, or whether that was simply a suggestion made by a former commissioner that isn’t getting real traction. The answer? “They are serious about it.” Yikes. Should make for some interesting news coverage. And no doubt a challenge in the courtroom.
The margin of victory for the children’s tax was 56-44 percent and many of those in the “yes” crowd were folks who didn’t necessarily enthusiastically support the idea of a new sales tax but instead just wanted to metaphorically flip the bird to county commissioners, for among other things, the commission’s recent monstrous jail proposal and their taxpayer-funded jail tax campaign. I know this because I’ve heard from many.
I shared this thought with a longtime public servant and observer of Platte County politics. “I believe it. In fact I would guess 5-10 percent of the yes votes were people supporting it just because the commissioners were opposing it,” was his response.
Sad, funny and true, all at the same time.
(You can find Foley watching Daddy’s Home 2 on a loop. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
