MSHP data shows that violent crime has dropped in Columbia, though youth violence remains ongoing
Mitchell Kaminski
Editor’s note: The idea of establishing a curfew was not discussed during the Office of Violence Prevention’s first meeting.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia’s Office of Violence Prevention Advisory Committee met Tuesday, as city leaders and law enforcement work to build collaborative strategies to address violent crime.
So far in 2025, Columbia Police have reported 186 violent crimes, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol data. That’s on pace to fall significantly from the 470 violent crimes reported in 2024.
Gun-related violent crimes so far this year have been cut in half compared to the same point last year. Through June in 2025, there have been 69 gun-related violent crimes compared to 112 in the same period of 2024.
Through the first six months of this year, there have been two murder cases cleared compared to 10 at the same point in 2024. Last year saw 13 total cleared murder reports, according to MSHP data.
Last year there was a total of nine fatal gun-related crimes, eight of which occurred in the first six months. In the first six months of this year, there have been two reported.
There were 339 nonfatal gun-related crimes in 2024 and 165 through the first six months. So far in 2025, there have been 131, according to the data.
Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said Columbia Police also reported that downtown shootings have dropped by more than 50% compared to last year. Johnson credited the implementation of Flock cameras, stronger partnerships with local and federal agencies, and CPD’s investment in intelligence personnel for helping drive down crime.
“One of the things that we know, historically, is a really small number of people are committing the largest amount of crime in the community,” Johnson said. “By taking those individuals off the street or getting them out of the criminal enterprise, we can reduce violence overall substantially.”
Johnson, who has been working for Boone County for more than a decade, indicated there are trends in Columbia’s violent crime.
“Since I’ve been here and I’ve been here for quite a long time, there have been extensive periods of violent crime in Columbia’s history. There was a period of time with the violent crime that involved a lot of shootings downtown and over at the mall area,” Johnson said. “Some trends that we’ve noticed over time in the past, almost all of our homicides and violent crime are related to drug robberies. And that’s really changed a lot. A lot of the offenses. For a while, we had a large number of domestic-related homicides.”
However, the largest issue Columbia currently faces is youth violence.
Of this year’s violent crimes, 69 involved a gun, and nearly half were committed by offenders aged 24 or younger. That includes 47 incidents involving victims aged 18-24, 24 involving those aged 10-17, and 13 involving children 10 and under. A total of 155 people have been arrested for violent crimes under the age of 24, with 91 of those being people aged 10-17.
“The trend now is we’re really struggling with violent crime involving juveniles,” Johnson said. “We have young people in the community with guns, and that’s a recipe for problems. We’ve been talking with some people in the community about the possibility of having a curfew and especially in some areas where there are high levels of trouble. But that’s an ongoing conversation.”
In October 2024, Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe introduced plans for a new office of violence prevention, a move that came weeks after a 3-year-old was shot in Columbia. D’Markus Thomas Brown was named the first administrator of the office in March.
Since taking the position, Brown has established an advisory 13-member advisory committee. However, Brown says that during the group’s first meeting, the idea of establishing a curfew was not discussed.
The advisory committee is tasked with monitoring performance metrics for the Office of Violence Prevention, identifying funding gaps, and recommending partnerships with community-based organizations. The goal is for mass collaboration between city stakeholders.
“Really a system that is that is put together that others can utilize even in our community, different stakeholders to look to work together in that division and things that have been kind of normalized, will start to segway,” Brown said when asked what he was hoping to get out of the committee. “We will see more folks coming together as a community versus working in silos and being divided.”
Brown said community revitalization is one of his top priorities.
“Being able to enrich and look at places that have been disinvested and kind of have a normalized understanding for violence,” Brown told ABC 17 News. “If we could collaborate to give people the resources to beautify the places they live, I think we will see violence drop”
Brown said the work is personal for him.
“I’ve seen those who have left this earth too early because of violence. I’ve seen children impacted because a parent has died,” Brown said. “I’ve seen those in our schools who have watched domestic violence happen and then are outworking those same patterns in their behavior.”
The committee is reviewing evidence-based strategies, including a community violence interrupter program, which employs neighborhood change agents to mediate conflicts and connect at-risk individuals with resources. Brown said the office is also exploring a Clean, Safe Neighborhood Initiative, modeled after efforts in St. Louis, to improve housing and safety conditions in high-violence areas.
Johnson, a member of the advisory committee, said partnerships between law enforcement and federal agencies have helped reduce shootings by about half compared to last year.
“The local community in Columbia has [had] underfunded public safety for decades,” Johnson said. “The city has invested in hiring new police officers, and that’s a big step. It’s not a problem that’s going to solve itself overnight, but we are seeing positive outcomes.”
Johnson said the committee is also looking at focused deterrence, which pairs law enforcement with social services.
“That’s the kind of stick side of focused deterrence and we’re hopeful that the Office of Violence Prevention can help on the carrot side, which is you present people opportunities to get out of crime, you provide them services and support if they’re willing to do that with them, knowing that if you don’t, then we’re going to be cracking down on them on the criminal side,” Johnson said.
The committee includes members from local nonprofits, law enforcement, and community organizations. The next steps involve finalizing prevention priorities and identifying funding for upcoming initiatives.
