Euphenie Andre
COLUMBIA, MO. (KMIZ)
City leaders met Thursday with the City of Columbia Office of Violence Prevention to discuss how the city plans to address violence and reduce crime.
The meeting wrapped up around 4 p.m. at City Hall. Media were not allowed inside the meeting, but attendees later shared details about what was discussed.
Thursday’s workshop brought together stakeholders from across Columbia to evaluate current violence reduction efforts, create shared definitions for community violence intervention and identify strengths and areas where the city’s violence prevention work could improve.
According to those who attended, the meeting was highly interactive. Participants moved around the room, wrote ideas on posters, and shared their thoughts with others during group discussions.
Office of Violence Prevention Administrator D’Markus Thomas-Brown said the meeting served as an introduction for organizations working to address violence in the community.
“[Today] entailed a lot of the community based organizations who were boots on the ground and in the fray of intervention and prevention, “Thomas-Brown said. ” [We] talked about what we do and to display a baseline for the landscape so we can identify gaps, we can identify who’s actually doing, community violence intervention, who’s doing prevention and we can also identify deserts and services that are not actually available to those most a risk.”
ABC 17 News spoke with John Scalise, president of Job Point; Ronald Brown, a street outreach worker with a community-based program; Connor McGowan with the Office of Violence Prevention; and Marcus Richardson, president of the Columbia chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
“A lot of it was discussed was what the challenges are that we face as a community. I think a lot of them are obvious. But the solution some of the things that we can do, how we can coordinate to get those things in place,” Scalise said.
Richardson said he thought Thursday’s meeting was informative.
“Very helpful. Very meaningful. We needed this so all of us could be together in the room to better asses our ecosystem on how we can make it better, where can improve, and what we can do to prevent things from happening in the future,” Richardson said.
The workshop explored how the Office of Violence Prevention can serve as a coordinating hub for community violence intervention efforts, helping public agencies and community partners better support people who may be at the highest risk of violence.
The group also briefly discussed a gun violence program analysis being conducted by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform. The study is working alongside the Columbia Police Department and is expected to help guide future strategies to reduce violence in the city.
According to a press release sent by the city after the event, insights gathered during the meeting will help inform a Violence Reduction Landscape Analysis Report that NICJR plans to deliver to the city in the coming months. Thomas-Brown said possible outcomes from the study were mentioned during the meeting, but specific details were not discussed.
“We’re just getting into our third month and there’s been already a handful of violence and gun violence” McGowan said. “So I would say definitely it’s very at the forefront of everyone’s mind right now,”
According to a violent crime report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, there have been 62 violent crimes reported in the city so far this year.
Thomas-Brown addressed several violent incidents that have already occurred this year, stating he is beginning to notice a pattern.
“But we have to look at the types of what these homicides have been,” Thomas-Brown said. “They’ve not been just random, run-of-the-mill beef on one side or the other. These have been interpersonal. These have been friends.”
Thomas-Brown said addressing violence also means examining broader issues, including legislation and access to firearms. He added that he believes it is currently too easy for people to access guns.
“I remember growing up, I would have had a dispute with somebody, and if I would have had a gun, I would probably be in the same predicament either in a grave or going to jail,” he said.
Another meeting involving the prevention group is scheduled for August.
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