Increased Columbia police presence downtown draws praise, criticism
Mitchell Kaminski
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Police Department has been ramping up its enforcement efforts downtown in recent weeks as part of a targeted approach to reduce violent incidents.
With classes back in session next week for the University of Missouri, the department says to expect to see more officers on patrol during peak bar hours.
However, the new strategy has drawn criticism from residents, specifically over jaywalking tickets that have been handed out.
Between Aug. 15-17, CPD handed out 21 citations as part of the new enforcement strategy. This included eight tickets for jaywalking or disobeying traffic signals. Eleven were for parking violations, while the other two included indecent exposure and an uninsured driver.
During an Aug. 4 City Council meeting, Ward 1 Councilwoman Valerie Carroll said multiple residents came to her with concerns about an arrest made on Aug. 2, during the Black and White Ball, an event that brought hundreds of Columbia alumni downtown.
Lifelong Columbia resident Mikel Fields was downtown that night and said he jaywalked in front of a CPD officer, who told him to wait for the light to turn green. Fields said he tried to shake the officer’s hand and start a conversation, but the officer wasn’t interested. Later that evening, he began seeing people being placed in handcuffs.
“At first I, was assuming maybe there was some violence involved or stuff until some of my friends and people that live downtown let me know they got handcuffed for jaywalking,” Fields said. “Me and another friend also witnessed some young ladies crying after they got handcuffed and just confused. Never been in trouble for anything before. When I went up and asked officers, ‘Is this for jaywalking?’, they confirmed it was for jaywalking.”
Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude told ABC 17 News earlier this month the arrests and police presence did not have anything to do with the Black and White Ball, adding the citations occurred after officers told people multiple times to get off the street before a supervisor showed up and determined the warnings were being ignored. A total of eight citations were issued for pedestrian traffic violations.
However, Fields and another downtown business owner — who wished to remain anonymous due to fear of it impacting their business — said that wasn’t the case. Instead, they say the bulk of the people hanging out were standing on the sidewalks, and no warnings were ever given.
“Police officers were actually walking in a circle around the crosswalks at the intersection of Ninth and Walnut, and they were waiting specifically for people to jaywalk. Most of the people were using the crosswalk or the crosswalk area to cross the street when there were no cars crossing at like 1:30, 2:00 at night after bar close,” Fields said.
“I don’t think it’s more about like just crossing the street,” Fields said. “I felt like a line was crossed when we allowed our enforcement to become discriminatory. It’s not enforced like that when there’s bankers and business owners crossing the street during rush hour at 8:00 in the morning, 9:00 in the morning at 5:00 when they’re getting off work.”
Schulde told ABC 17 News earlier this month that officers aren’t necessarily focused on enforcing jaywalking itself. Instead, the department’s targeted approach is aimed at interrupting patterns of behavior that can escalate into more serious issues, such as open-container violations, littering, trespassing, minors in possession of alcohol, peace disturbances, parking violations, and pedestrian traffic offenses.
“I actually think that’s a really good thing. I really think it’s really appreciated to see enforcement downtown and seeing that they’re being proactive,” Fields said.
However, Fields still feels that some of the jaywalking citations have been harsh, considering he has videotaped police jaywalking during the day.
“If you are enforcing jaywalking, you choose to do it only at this time with this demographic of people, you’re sending a message that you don’t want these people downtown and that’s how they feel,” Fields said.
In the past 18 months, CPD says it has seen a sustained and escalating gun violence downtown, which has included three uninvolved bystanders being shot and numerous others put at risk.
Eight of 11 shots fired and shooting reports in the past 18 months have occurred after bars closed at 1:30 a.m. According to Schlude, the hotspot for gun violence has shifted from the 900 block of East Broadway in 2024 to the 800 block of Walnut Street in 2025.
“Early in the summer, there was the first incident and the patrols all picked up and then we started noticing, Highway Patrolmen, outside enforcement and you could tell that they had beefed up the traffic of the police officers,” Travis Oakley, a co-owner of 9th Street Public House, said. “They seem to be doing a pretty good job down here. They’re circling the blocks. It’s cleaned up quite a bit over the summer.”
Bar owners downtown say they welcome the enforcement, but don’t want it to scare off customers. The 50 Yard Line, located on the 800 block of Walnut Street, said they have had their windows shattered on two separate occasions after hours, something that the business had to pay for out of pocket.
CPD is hoping the increased police presence downtown will strengthen relationships with local bars and help reduce the number of incidents.
“We have a couple of beat cops down here that come by and just check on us, especially late at night. Some of the guys will come in and do a walk-through, say what’s up, make sure we don’t have any troublemakers,” Oakley said. “Especially if it’s busier and they notice it’s busier, the beat cops are walking around checking in with places, talking to people, and I appreciate that.”