Columbia Office of Violence Prevention gives update to analysis report during meeting with Collegiate Advisory Board
Olivia Hayes
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
During Monday’s Columbia Collegiate Advisory Board meeting, Office of Violence Prevention Administrator D’Markus Thomas-Brown detailed his department’s efforts and gave an update on the progress of an anticipated violence analysis report.
In January, city leaders started collaborating with the National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform to curb violent crime in the community. NICJR is expected to deliver a “Gun Violence Problem Analysis” and a “Community Violence Landscape Analysis.” The study is being conducted in partnership with the Columbia Police Department.
At the time, city leaders said the final report was expected to be ready in four-to-six months. As the deadline nears, Thomas-Brown said at Monday’s meeting that the report will show where “gaps” in the community are and provide suggestions for how to fill them.
Despite nothing official, Thomas-Brown discussed one area in Columbia lacking support.
“Hospital-based violence intervention prevention, we don’t have any of that here and it could be that we don’t necessarily need that, but it’s a huge gap,” Thomas-Brown said. “So being able to work with other entities to make sure that gap is filled through collaboration.”
Thomas-Brown said the NICJR report will also help keep city leaders accountable, as it should also provide the staffing and funding needs for his office to meet the national standard of success in the violence prevention sphere.