Columbia officials ask for public input following violent weekend
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The City of Columbia is recovering from a chaotic weekend of multiple shootings that left at least five people hurt. These shootings occurred across the city on Maguire Boulevard., East Broadway and at Cosmo Park.
The city last year made efforts to improve officer retention and made the city's in-house police academy. Funds were also used to build the city's Flock camera system and NIBEN weapon identification system. CPD will also be rolling out a crime dashboard in the summer that will give real-time updates on crime statistics in the city.
For further preventative measures, the city is asking the public to come forward with concerns and tips on crime and the city founded the Office of Violence Prevention.
Mayor Barbara Buffaloe added that she plans to move city funds to where problem areas occur. Community input and observations will help pinpoint problem areas faster and more accurately.
"So over the weekend, they estimated maybe 500 people were at the park," Buffaloe said. "So from my knowledge, only four are willing to talk with our police department and so we really need the community to show up, you know, if you want to be anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers and give your tips that way."
Office of Violence Prevention administrator D'Markus Thomas-Brown agrees that crime has become alarming in the city, but said it is expected with a growing population and constructive solutions and ideas from the community are key for change.
Thomas-Brown has community events like block parties are in the works to give people the opportunity to bridge the gap between city leaders and residents. He also plans to connect with community groups for grant opportunities.
"How do we collaborate and convene a group where we have neighbors and the police talk and we can say, 'Hey, this is a need.' And then being able to look at the root cause of that," he said.
Dimetrious Woods the Co-owner of Essentialz Neighborhood Bodega said that he's had to scale back his hours from 1:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. due to the risk of violence at night. Woods added that as a business owner, he's open to customer input for ways to improve safety.
"Columbia is a beautiful place, but after 1 a.m., I would think that would be the cutoff time for civilians and anyone that will want to be safe anywhere," Woods said. "If we all work together, citizens and business owners alike, whether you're open late at night or not, it's things that we can do to make our environment much more safe and pleasant and inviting for our customers."
To contact the Office of Crime Prevention with tips or your own personal experiences, you can reach Thomas-Brown at D'markus.thomas-brown@como.gov.
