'You diagnose a problem': How Columbia could update its 7-year-old community violence report

Seven years ago the city had a Mayor's Task Force on Community Violence. How could Columbia go about updating its report?

Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services Director Stephanie Browning worked to answer that question Monday at the Columbia City Council meeting.

"People have asked me if (the report) is still relevant and is it still timely," she said.

The task force, originally created Aug. 5, 2013, explored ways to reduce violent crime in Columbia with a focus on reducing violence among youth. It took an evidence-based approach and held public forums, but ultimately dissolved when it submitted its report to the city in November 2014, Browning said.

The health department is looking at ways in which it can utilize American Rescue Plan Act funds to address community violence, she said.

The 2014 report noted violence reduction is not a "one-time fix" and that it will take ongoing accountability from government leaders, educational institutions, local nonprofits and residents.

"(Violence) is not just a city problem. It is a community problem and we have to have solutions together," Browning said.

Updating the 2014 report

The one failing of the 2014 report was not creating a liaison position between the city, the school district and nonprofits, Browning said, noting it should be considered when moving forward.

That liaison position can come from American Rescue Plan Act funds, she said.

"Community violence prevention is an allowable expense (under the act)," Browning said.

If a liaison position is created, the job description should include an equity focus, she said.

That person also should continue to emphasize employment, affordable housing and basic needs for poverty reduction, build the capacity of newer grassroots organizations and develop policy to address continued issues, among other responsibilities, Browning said.

Any updates to the 2014 report should take a different scope, Browning argued. Its focus then was on youth, but recent community violence has not been among youth, she said.

"If we want to talk about it as a public health issue, we need to look at data. You diagnose a problem," Browning said. "You figure out the strategies that are going to make the greatest impact."

So, does the updated report look at domestic violence, child abuse and sexual violence as additions to gun violence, she asked.

"You have to consider the trauma that results from violence," Browning said. "We need to define what we are looking at when we do this. What kind of violence."

The rescue plan funds are not provided indefinitely, so any updated plans will need to include ways to sustain them, Browning said.

Mayor Brian Treece, highlighting a St. Louis University program, said job coaching should continue even after a person — who may be caught up in the criminal justice system — finds employment. A focus should also be on re-entry, he said, noting the recent shootings all were allegedly committed by people with prior criminal histories.

"What kind of peer counseling do we need at offender re-entry programs that we can keep (offenders from) falling back into that situation or environment," he said, noting an aspect of a possible update.

Could the recently created two-person office of diversity, equity and inclusion with the city be that liaison or does it need another office, council member Karl Skala asked. While not knowing the specifics of the DEI position, that could be a possibility since issues of community violence include an equity access standpoint, Browning said.

Council member Betsy Peters hopes instead that the liaison would be its own position with the city, she said. The DEI positions have different end goals than a community violence liaison would, she added.

Violence interruption programs have had mixed results in the city, said Police Chief Geoff Jones, addressing a comment by council member Ian Thomas. Recent research into them has had the same conclusion, Jones said.

Does it have to be a school resource office that identifies issues with regard to potential neglect? Could it not be instead a trained adult as a resource, asked council member Pat Fowler.

While that is more a question for Jones, students still receive the twice-yearly mental health screening, which is significant, Browning said.

You have to connect the screening results to kids who are at-risk, she added. The resource officer question is down to defining roles as it relates to the understanding agreement between the police department and the district, Jones said.

One person still cannot keep track of all issues among a 1,200-student body, Fowler argued.

"There are people of color who have been working for free for years to try to improve the conditions in this community and the funding processes the city currently offers denies them funding because they have to have the resources upfront to pay their staff upfront and be reimbursed later," she said about grassroots organizations in Columbia.

We need to find a different payment model, she added.

Rose Metro, representing Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, during a public comment period urged the council to follow through on its commitment to create a community violence intervention program from Nov. 15.

This was one day after the early-morning shooting outside Vibez Lounge that left five people injured from that shooting and a suspect dead when he was shot by police.

"No timeline was laid out and no leader designated. It doesn't seem to have progressed," Metro said, noting the city seems ill-equipped for community engagement based on staffing levels. "It is past time to act."

Violence interruption programs have middling results because they are not adequately funded, Metro argued, addressing the earlier comment by Jones.

Susan Renee Carter urged the city to look at other options than resource officers for the city's school district.

"If you put police officers in the school, all you do is end up with more children incarcerated and ending up in prison as adults," she said.

Nina Hampton addressed gun violence in Columbia as a public health issue. She shared a comparison of Columbia's downtown area to that of Kalamazoo, Michigan. While police conduct patrols in this area of Kalamazoo, there also are shelter resources, a community health center, and a rapid response mental health treatment center.

"Individuals in need can literally access all the services from walking from one end to the other," Hampton said, noting Kalamazoo is around half the size of Columbia but manages to fund public health more than Columbia.

The problem in this community is not Black people or Black business owners, Hampton said, noting the Nov. 14 shooting outside Vibez Lounge and the city's response to its owner.

"It is much more accurate to identify our unresponsive systems of government as the problematic perpetrators of our community's current and collective mass casualties," she said.

Advancements since the report was released

City staff has been asked what they have done to help contribute to this community issue since 2014, Browning said.

The then-task force came up with four pillars on which to address community violence, which includes:

• Prevention;

• Intervention;

• Enforcement; and

• Re-entry.

She highlighted a few of the things that have happened in the city since 2014 based on a 2020 report and more recent advancements.

Addressing prevention, in-home services through Healthy Families America and Brighter Beginnings have increased since 2014, along with the number of housing vouchers for chronically homeless, and recently the county received an Upward Mobility grant.

"The Upward Mobility grant is designed to reduce racial and ethnic inequities and support upward mobility from poverty," Browning said. "We are one of eight counties in the country to have this grant."

An action plan for this grant is expected by June.

Intervention efforts for violent crime include a mental health aspect, including the twice-yearly student screenings.

Youth and family programs also have gained traction in the community, such as the Family Access Center for Excellence, which also includes a social, emotional and behavioral health aspect. The city also has brought in community history as a means of intervention with the African-American heritage trail.

The county also has its Stepping Up initiative as a means of addressing behavioral health issues, while the 24-hour crisis center still is in development, Browning said about the enforcement aspect since 2014.

The Columbia Police Department has increased its number of officers since 2014, but these officers also work as airport security and other roles, Browning said. Law enforcement, in general, is experiencing recruitment and retention challenges, she added.

As a way for offender re-entry into Columbia society, the city has partnered with the Re-entry Opportunity Center and the Central Missouri Recovery Coalition. The ROC celebrated a ribbon-cutting at its new location earlier this year.

Does the 2014 report still apply?

The 2014 report came up with 12 consensus points, with the top four noting:

• drug, alcohol contributing factors to violence;

• negative police perceptions by community;

• lack of economic opportunity leading to feelings of hopelessness; and

• a need for basic adult education.

Violent crime, according to the report then, was perpetrated by a majority of men in their 20s with no job skills and that there was a lack of childhood education. There were known gangs in Columbia, but it was difficult to gauge how much they factored into violent crime.

Homicide-related deaths were among people who knew each other. Violent offenders typically have a previous criminal history. A large factor was that children are not being taught positive social attitudes and values while not teaching them basic educational skills. So, there were anti-social attitudes around the ideas of respect and justice.

"As we think ahead, are those consensus points still accurate today," Browning said. "I think they probably still hold true seven years later."

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Columbia could update its community violence report, seven years on