Plans to bring a crime prevention expert to Columbus have hit a snag, forcing law enforcement and a community task force to move on to Plan B.
The Crime Prevention Taskforce, a project begun by District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks” Lowndes County Minority Leadership Class, set its sights on bringing Daniel Keller, executive director of the American Crime Prevention Institute in Louisville, Ky., to Columbus this year to lead a three-day seminar on community awareness and crime prevention.
After contacting Keller this spring, Brooks and the task force began looking for fundraising opportunities to cover the $4,000 charge for the seminar. Brooks says he spoke with Keller several more times, including once after the Columbus Police Department and the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office agreed to share the ACPI”s asking price.
Then the communication stopped.
“He was supposed to get back in touch a week later and he didn”t,” said Brooks. “We faxed a letter and he never got back. We got in touch with the other Mr. Keller (a former ACPI employee) and he said he”d relay the message.
“It”s just kind of an enigma to me someone would be in the business to make money and not do it.”
Multiple officials have been unable to reach Keller for explanation. Several calls and voicemails from The Dispatch to Keller were unanswered.
The plan now is to find another entity which specializes in crime prevention to lead a seminar in Columbus. The CPD and LCSO will still share the cost.
CPD Chief Joseph St. John said the basic principles of community crime prevention are well known, but a group such as ACPI can provide an example how to best apply those principles in a city the size of Columbus.
“What would be nice is if somebody could give us a model that (another city) was already using,” said St. John.
Brooks plans to meet with St. John, Sheriff Butch Howard, Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem and County Administrator Ralph Billingsley to discuss the finding a suitable replacement for ACPI. St. John said several similar organizations exist across the country.
The Crime Prevention Taskforce began meeting in the spring with the goal of gathering public input on how to reduce crime and improve relations with law enforcement. It established goals of providing suggestions to the community and local law enforcement. Coincidentally, the task force”s meetings came on the heels of a pair of Columbus murders in April and May.
Brooks said the task force will likely meet again before Thanksgiving and hopes to meet with youth service providers, civic leaders and religious leaders before drafting its reports.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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