Boone Co. to Step Up Enforcement

The Boone County Sheriff is stepping up the department’s effort to crack down on crime in the Columbia city limits.Sheriff Dwayne Carey says his deputies are serving more warrants in Columbia. He believes this effort could make a big difference specifically related to cutting back on crime. Carey says this is not a public relations tool, but rather the fact that violent crime has picked up in the community and it’s time to address it.The sheriff says a lot of the criminals causing crime and shootings are the same in the city and the county.”They live in the county, they go to the city, or they live in the city, they go to the county,” said Sheriff Carey. “What I’m doing is just letting [deputies] chase those leads or that information into the city.”Carey tells ABC 17 News since Columbia is in Boone County, his deputies have a responsibility. He urges that more needs to be done as crimes continue to surge.In just the last 30 days, Columbia Police Department dispatch records show officers were called to 12 different robberies. On top of that, police responded to 31 different shots fired calls.The sheriff says wherever the crime happens, if deputies can, they will act.”If it’s a shooting that occurred in the county, but we know the guy lives in the city, we get probable cause to do a search warrant,” said Sheriff Carey. “We’ll obviously notify the Columbia Police Department, but we’re gonna be going and doing a search warrant in the city.”He says there is a direct correlation between drugs and the violent crime currently occurring. Deputies will be pulling out all of the stops to put an end to the crime spike.”Whether it be through drug search warrants, or car stops, or whatever the case might be, but we’ve got to do something about these street-level drug guys retaliating by shooting at each other,” said Sheriff Carey.The sheriff tells ABC 17 News that there is currently no overtime limit for deputies, so those that can come in on extra days to help with the enforcement will. Carey say the department will use warrant roundups and saturation patrols to target problems areas, but the plan has no end date or goal.