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7-11 greetings. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters-Baker speaks with the manager at the 7-11 store at Independence and Benton boulevards July 25 about re-developing the Neighborhood Prosecution Team in her office. The Benton 7-11 is a fixture along Independence Avenue and has a long-standing positive relationship with area police. Michael Bushnell
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Walking the streets. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters-Baker, Public Information Officer Michael Mansur and an East Patrol officer brave scorching temperatures July 25 to walk Independence Avenue between Benton Boulevard and Askew Avenue. The group visited area businesses to explain the newly resurrected Neighborhood Prosecution Team. Michael Bushnell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Michael Bushnell
Northeast News
August 1, 2012

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker braved extreme heat as well as a host of prostitutes and drunks to walk Independence Avenue July 25 with a team of prosecutors and two East Patrol police officers, promoting the re-introduction of Neighborhood Prosecution Teams to Avenue businesses and residents.

Neighborhood Prosecution Teams are not a foreign concept to area neighborhood leaders. The idea was introduced to Historic Northeast neighborhoods about a decade ago in an effort to more effectively team with police and neighborhoods in the targeting and prosecuting of career criminals. The concept faltered after a few years, however, leaving neighborhoods and residents the daunting task of navigating and tracking “red-file” cases through the court system.

Peters Baker re-introduced the concept roughly a year ago in an effort to re-open communication channels with the city prosecutor’s office, the office that prosecutes most street-level crime in the city, and also re-establish communication channels with law enforcement and neighborhoods.

Wednesday’s canvas focused on a four-block stretch of Independence Avenue between Benton Boulevard and Askew Avenue, one of the busiest areas in terms of street-level crime.