Staff and volunteers with COMBAT, the Jackson County anti-drug effort, will be going door-to-door in Midtown today.
Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders is to kick off the event that begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Whole Person, 3710 Main St.
It is part of an anti-violence campaign that county officials started in February called “Step Up, Speak Up; Don’t Look the Other Way.”
Volunteers will urge citizens to report crime and drug activity by calling the COMBAT hotline at 816-881-3662.
They will also hand out yard signs, door hangers and posters and provide information on the many programs and services that COMBAT offers.
It is all part of an $80,000 countywide effort similar to one six years ago that helped double the number of calls to the TIPS hotline.
Getting witnesses to come forward in murders and other crimes has been a constant problem and criminals in the past have even launched their own “don’t snitch” campaigns.
COMBAT is funded by a ¼ cent county sales tax first approved by voters in 1989. The tax was last renewed in 2009, when it passed by more than a two thirds majority.
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