I, as Mayor, and the City Council are very concerned about the burglaries, home invasions, larceny, theft, illegal use of drugs and homicides that have occurred in the past four to five months.
We are committed to working with the chief of police to provide more officers on the streets, equipment, supplies and whatever it takes to make Columbus a safe place to live, work and raise a family. It’s not going to happen overnight, but these are our plans:
1. We will be working diligently with the Lowndes County Sheriff Department and other law enforcement agencies in the Golden Triangle area and Alabama to deter crime.
2. We are asking our municipal judges to set higher bonds on felony arrest, such as home invasions, drive by shootings, homicides, rapes, illegal use of drugs and other serious offenses.
3. We are increasing foot patrol uptown and in high crime areas.
4. We are increasing community policing.
5. We are revamping and creating new Neighborhood Watch Programs and encouraging citizens throughout the city to get more involved with those programs.
6. We are asking citizens to be more cooperative and responsive to our law enforcement agencies.
With every city official, law enforcement agent and citizen working together, we sincerely believe we will be able to curtail the crime in our city.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.