Deputies Continue Making Arrests

Boone County law enforcement continues to impact crime with aggressive enforcement in the Columbia city limits.Sheriff’s deputies arrested Timothy Hyde around 9:30 Tuesday night after getting tips meth was being used in a room at the Candlewood Suites on Wingate Court.We’ve been reporting since the beginning of year, deputies are working to cut down on crime by serving more drug search warrants in city limits.Since January first, ABC 17 News has reported five robberies in Columbia and Boone County, and nine shootings in those same nine weeks. While those numbers don’t paint the prettiest picture of local crime, they do suggest change.At a point last spring, we counted 11 shootings in a mere 28 days including one at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Last fall, Columbia was the scene of nine home invasions in only six weeks. This past December there were more than a dozen unsolved robberies.”Many of these drug users steal, do burglaries, commit robberies in order to satiate their drug habit,” Detective Tom O’Sullivan said. “The illegal drug trade is kind of the central hub; it has a lot of spokes that represent other types of criminal activity.”Cops say drugs are behind a majority of local crime and serving more drug search warrants minimizes those shootings and robberies. But there may be other factors. The area has recently been hit hard by snow storms that may have hampered criminal activity.O’Sullivan says, “That’s certainly one component that may be responsible for what seems like a little bit of a drop off over the last couple of weeks, the inclimate weather. Criminals can’t get around either.”Still, since the beginning of 2013, crime looks to be down. Detective O’Sullivan says up or down, deputies will remain persistent.”We don’t really look at things in those terms..we continue to follow up on all reports of criminal activity.”Sheriff Dwayne Carey didn’t want to comment on the matter just yet, saying he needs more time before commenting on how well his initiative is working. With or without comment, the numbers speak for themselves.ABC 17 News checked on the status of Columbia Police’s Ceasefire Initiative they started in november to crack down on crime. Sources say right now there is no specialized unit at CPD focusing on the Ceasefire Initiative as their primary duty.