Columbia police attribute peaceful protests to community outreach

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Officers with the Columbia Police Department have been monitoring and responding to protests downtown over the last week.

Protests in Columbia have been largely peaceful, with the exception of two people being hit by vehicles on June 1 and damage to Walgreens on the same night.

"What we saw Monday night is a group of people who decided to take that into more non-peaceful, aggressive behaviors. Parking in the street, breaking into Walgreens. You know, different types of things that you would associate to riotous behavior and not demonstrating," said Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones.

Jones said people came back to Walgreens on Tuesday and the police had to prevent them from doing further damage.

Protests deescalated after Monday night and have been peaceful.

"They were trying to test what our boundaries would be and we were seeing how far that they would push this," Jones said.

Columbia police have been using several techniques to ensure people can protest peacefully.

Officers, along with the Boone County Fire Protection District, have used drones to watch protests from above. The drones allow officers to see where protesters are moving so police can block off intersections and roads for demonstrators to be able to move safely. It also allows officers to see problems that could arise that officers on the ground may not.

"Pre-planned from movements so we can have intersections ready and shut down so we don't have an incident where we have a crowd walking through an intersection and a vehicle coming through and potentially striking those people that are walking through that intersection," said Sergeant Scott Alpers.

Alpers said although there have been rumors circulating on social media, the drones are not armed. They can only take videos or photos.

The police department also has people looking at outside influences who may attend protests to distract from the message.

"We have been, through our intelligence unit, trying to find those people and monitor their activity. We go talk to them and let them know that we're watching," Jones said.

The department has officers assigned to certain buildings, like the police department, to protect them. Some officers have been working to get things like food and water to officers or protesters if they look like they need it.

The department has also had officers on the ground communicating with organizers to find out what they need and to make sure the department's efforts are coordinated with theirs.

Lieutenant Mike Hestir and Sergeant Clint Sinclair have been walking with protesters.

Officers on the streets, like Hestir and Sinclair, have served as a form of communication for organizers, giving them someone to go to if they need assistance or if there is a problem.

"We've been trying to protect the protesters from outside interference. We've been trying to protect other Columbia citizens from traffic crashes, that sort of thing," Hestir said.

Officers on the streets have also been on the lookout for people who may be suffering from things like dehydration because of the heat.

Sinclair said he thinks some of the things the department has done has prepared them to deal with topics like police brutality and injustice.

"Columbia's been ahead of the curve for several years on this and with Chief Jones' leadership and Lieutenant Hestir in the community outreach unit, I've seen first-hand the groundwork and the foundation that they've laid for the last several years," Sinclair said.

He said he thinks the department has done things in Columbia that have not been done in other cities. He used the department's trip to Memphis as an example of how they have worked to lay framework and communicate with people. Jones and other community leaders took a trip in 2019 to the National Civil Rights Museum.

Jacquelyn Watts has been leading protests over the past week. She praised Jone's efforts in training officers.

"I've heard he's done a lot of things to try to help. He took them to one of the museums in Memphis as a kind of like training, and I think that's good and I hope that he continues to do stuff like that and more stuff," Watts said.

Sinclair said police continue to think of the department as part of the community and not an overlying source or something separate.

Watts said the police have been very helpful in keeping protesters safe, but the department still has room to grow.

“They just need to actually make change. Make sure you fire bad officers. More training. They need to be certified to work with mentally ill people, black people. I mean they need to be well rounded in all areas so that they can go in and not think to have their guns drawn unless guns are already drawn on them," she said.

Jones said the department will seek citizen input, which it has done in the past. He said he does not believe the department has always done a good job of taking action after those discussions, but it will improve.

"Our policies are pretty strong when it comes to use of force in particular, reporting of use of force, reporting of officers who misuse force, our review process for use of force," Jones said. "All of that I feel are pretty strong."

Jones said City Manager John Glascock has tasked the deputy city manager with looking at city policy through the lens of equity. He said the department is looking at having a position under its internal affairs sergeant that would do the same.