Ward 3 holds community policing meeting less than 24 hours after teen injured in shooting

Columbia Police and city leaders said the adoption of a community policing model will have a positive effect on the community and help deter crime.

Their comments were made at a community policing meeting in Ward 3 Thursday night. The meeting came less than 24 hours after a teenager was injured in a shooting on Kelsey Drive and Shamrock Drive.

Residents at the meeting expressed both support and concerns for the initiative. Right now, the city is trying to figure out how to implement a community policing model.

Ward 3 city councilman Karl Saka said the city still has to figure out how to fund the initiative. He said that could come in the form of a property or sales tax.

“We’re going to have to bring this to the public and see what the public thinks about this,” Skala said. “We know we’re short on staff.”

Sgt. Robert Fox has been chosen to lead the process. He will later present his ideas to the city council on what the program should look like and how it will be implemented.

“The point of community oriented policing is that we’re engaged with the public, we’re building bridges with communities who perhaps historically haven’t had good relationships with the police,” Fox told ABC 17 News at the meeting. “The pressure has been on beat officers to go from call to call and to get the information and be on to the next call, and that’s not healthy for either the officer, the department or the city.”

The Columbia City Council passed a resolution in February to develop a community policing model for the department. The first community policing forum was held in May.

The Columbia Police Department currently employs nine officers in its Community Outreach Unit, a group dedicated to working with specific neighborhoods on public safety and other issues. City data shows that instances of crime and calls for service have dropped in those neighborhoods since the unit was started in 2015.