North Columbia neighborhood leaders consider path forward

Tori Stevens and Sophia Smith live on opposite ends of their north Columbia neighborhood, but the city’s efforts in the area have brought them closer.

The two help lead meetings dedicated to improving the area as part of the city government’s strategic plan. The plan seeks to improve conditions in four specific areas of town affected by poverty and crime.

During their Thursday meeting, the eight attendants discussed ways to get more people involved in their efforts. That included a neighborhood trash pickup in October and a “trunk-or-treat” event closer to Halloween.

The neighborhood is also awaiting a new officer from the Community Outreach Unit, which dedicates itself to making several face-to-face contacts with people in the area and forging relationships with them. Sgt. Mike Hestir, who runs the day-to-day operations of the unit, said two officers in the nine-person unit recently left CPD, and that the department was searching for the right internal candidates to fill the spots. In the meantime, Hestir said he would work in the north neighborhood.

Stevens said she hoped the new officer for north Columbia was “exactly like the one we had.” She said the officers that worked in the area were dedicated to helping people, and not just using the position as a way to make arrests.

“It wasn’t just them wanting to know more in the neighborhood as far as crime,” Stevens said. “They was able to want to talk to us, make sure we was happy, make sure the neighbors was happy. They did a good job.”

Hestir said violent crime was about 50 percent lower this year in the north Columbia neighborhood than last year, with a drop in aggravated assaults. Car thefts, however, were on the rise in 2018, he said.

Smith said she hoped people would come out to their events and get involved in their meetings, which she hopes will bring more positive changes to the area.

The trash pickup event is open to the public, and children can attend as long as an adult accompanies them. The pickup starts at 9 a.m. on Oct. 13 at the basketball court on Edenton Blvd.