Nia Hinson
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mid-Missouri is taking steps toward curbing violence through collaborative efforts between local, state and federal agencies.
The Violent Crime Abatement Team — which began on Jan. 1 — looks to discuss recent violent crimes and arrests in the area during monthly meetings at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Discussions include sharing information about what law enforcement is encountering in their areas and make decisions about investigations and prosecutions, spokesman Bailey Coulter said.
Local agencies and prosecuting offices included within the discussions include:
Columbia Police Department;
Boone County Sheriff’s Office;
MU Police Department;
Boone County Prosecutors Office;
Jefferson City Police Department;
Cole County Sheriff’s Office;
Cole County Prosecutor’s Office;
Callaway County Sheriff’s Office;
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;
Federal Bureau Investigation;
Drug Enforcement Administration; and
Internal Revenue Service
Much of the efforts have focused on urban centers in Columbia and Jefferson City, according to Coulter.
“Over the last several years, our community has seen shootings and other acts of violence that harmed or threatened innocent people,” Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Kummerer said in a statement to ABC 17 News. “This is an obvious problem, and there was resounding support and a sense of urgency among all of our law enforcement partners to bring our resources together to try to address this.”
Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said his office began interagency discussions several years ago to discuss violent crime and trends in the community. The discussions allowed local agencies to have the opportunity to share intelligence.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office approached those involved this year with an interest to take the helm of that after the team was successful in other areas. A recent change in Missouri law — that now allows local agencies and the prosecutor’s office to collaborate with the federal government — is to thank.
“And it’s been fantastic that they’ve been able and willing to do that,” Johnson said. “They have the ability to reach out over a broader area of the community.”
Johnson said during meetings, law enforcement partners detail what sort of trends they’re seeing and look at certain individuals who may be causing a “disproportionate amount of harm.”
Discussions are also had that look at ways resources can be used to focus on higher-problem areas.
Johnson has worked at the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office for about 15 years. During his time, he said he’s always noticed violent crime trends, including drug dealing that perpetuates violence. In more recent years, he said the proliferation of guns winding up in the hands of youth has increased.
“The police officers now tell me that almost every young person that they encounter on the streets, people have guns,” Johnson said. “And when you’re mixing that problem where you have groups and conflict and they’re also armed, it’s a recipe for violent crime.”
Johnson said an increasing challenge prosecutors have faced over the years is the lack of witnesses who are willing to come forward and testify. That, along with recent staffing issues within the Columbia Police Department is something he said can create problems when working to keep the community safe.
Johnson said a state federal task force in previous years used to work to address violent drug dealers in the area, as well as local gangs. However, he said those organizations have begun to build back up but collaborative work with federal prosecutors that expands Boone County’s resources is a positive.
“They have agents, technology and things that they can share and provide, so part of it is increasing our capacity for crimes that we can address,” Johnson said. “Federal prosecutors can focus on gun cases, they can focus on violent drug dealers and they have laws that allow them to take those people off the streets for longer periods of time.”
Cole County Prosectuor Locke Thompson also told ABC 17 News via email he believes in the nearly six months since the team was created, it’s worked well.
“Pooling the information and resources of our local, state, and federal agencies greatly enhances our ability to target and prosecute violent crime here in Cole County,” Thompson wrote.
Kummerer said while the work is an ongoing effort but momentum has been encouraging. She said all agencies involved have worked vigorously toward collaborations to find the tools to address crimes within the community.
“We expect to continue to be able to build on this progress, especially as staffing improves for our local partners,” Kummerer said.
Columbia looks to add Violence Prevention Advisory Board
Columbia’s Leader for the Office of Violence Prevention is looking to expand his efforts toward decreasing violence in the city.
D’Markus Thomas-Brown said he and Roger Johnson have had discussions aimed at removing barriers and giving resources to people so they aren’t prone to choosing violence. Thomas-Brown is now looking to form a Violence Prevention Advisory Board in the city that uses a collaborative approach to achieve that.
“Whether it be county, the prosecutor, community based organizations, stakeholders and business owners coming together to analyze what’s going on to bring adequate solutions and resources to the interventions and situations that going on in the community,” Thomas-Brown said.
Thomas-Brown said he’s reached out to 16 people within the city, including the Columbia Police Department and University of Missouri Police Department.
He’s still working to nail down a set schedule, but hopes to launch the meetings in June and hold meetings once a month from then on.
He said the meetings will largely focus on discussions from organizations about their needs, and looking into data driven evidence to see what needs to be done to better the city.
“And I believe we can but it’s going to take, as it was stated by the mayor and stated by the city manager, it’s going to take time to perform but we’re trending in that direction,” Thomas-Brown said.
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