Homeless outreach organizer shares thoughts from Wednesday night Columbia police chief forum

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia police chief candidates answered questions in front of the public on Wednesday night.

Each candidate was asked five questions concerning violent crime, staffing, accreditation, homelessness and mental health and working with community groups.

John Trapp, owner of 4-A-Change homeless outreach, shared his thoughts on the police chief candidates regarding the topic of homelessness. He attended Wednesday night's forum and thought they all had similar and "political" answers, describing it as if they were just doing a job interview and not giving the public an honest answer.

Trapp would have liked to hear more in-depth answers regarding the issue but thought due to the constraints of the forum there weren't as many opportunities for follow up questions.

"I would have liked to hear more. You know, even though they said they can't solve the problem, that we still want to know how are they going to treat trespassing? How are they going to treat people that are intoxicated on the street?" he said.

Trapp appreciated some responses with the idea of co-responders, calling it a really positive approach. He said that would be a big help for the homeless population because of the amount of people with mental illnesses and substance abuse.