City officials have invited the public to a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in Trotter Convention Center to hear concerns and propose solutions to the recent increase in gun violence in Columbus and the surrounding areas.
Mayor Robert Smith, Police Chief Fred Shelton and Lowndes County District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks announced the meeting Thursday at a press conference outside City Hall, along with several solutions already being implemented, such as increasing night patrols and purchasing 12 surveillance cameras to be installed throughout the city.
Brooks chairs the city’s Crime Prevention Task Force, which he called “one of the most proactive group(s) of people that I’ve worked with in my 37 years on the board.” The group is currently preparing a list of recommendations for community projects and resources to recommend to the city council, but Brooks said the task force wants to hold a town hall meeting to get public input before they finalize those recommendations.
“We’re inviting the public to come out to share with us their views on how to reduce crime and create a climate of safety,” Brooks said. “It is not a meeting to blast anybody. It is not a political gathering. It is an opportunity to hear from the citizens as we develop our final report.”
The press conference came on the heels of three shootings in less than 48 hours, including two shootings Monday — one just before 5 p.m. at Country Air Apartments on Lehmberg Road and the other around midnight on Seventh Street South — and another on Tuesday on 16th Street North. All three resulted in injuries, the most serious being the victim in the Seventh Avenue South shooting.
In that case, the victim drove a car that was shot at, veered off the street and knocked into a light pole which fell through the car’s windshield. Shelton said the victim, who was taken to an out-of-area hospital for treatment, has undergone surgery and is expected to be released within a few days. Shelton previously told The Dispatch the other passengers in the vehicle have not been cooperating with investigators.
“We understand that our citizens are upset about these crimes, and we understand why they’re upset about these crimes, but it’s going to take all of us working together to decrease crimes,” Smith said. “It’s going to take the parents and guardians at home working with the police, the mayor, the council and the chief and law enforcement. It’s going to take the victims working with the law enforcement agencies rather than saying, ‘I’ll take care of this matter on my own.’”
Smith said he, Brooks, Shelton and Columbus Police Department Overview Committee chair Steven James, along with other city officials, met Wednesday to discuss several “immediate actions” the city could put in place to curtail crime.
Shelton said CPD plans to increase night patrols by three to five officers (there are currently nine on a night shift) and implement nightly driver’s license and safety checkpoints.
He said that would likely require officers to come in on their off days, but he and his command staff will make sure to rotate that so the officers don’t become overworked.
“We don’t want to burn people out,” Shelton said. “… It’s not just going to have one person working seven days straight on night shifts. They have to have a period of rest, so we’re going to be flexible with that and we’re going to work with our officers, make sure that they’re healthy and that they’re getting proper rest as well.”
The city has also ordered 12 surveillance cameras, at least one of which would be installed in “every community in the city,” Shelton said, though neither he nor Smith specified where exactly the cameras will be placed. Smith said the cameras cost about $14,000.
Shelton also did not release where the checkpoints will be located.
Both Smith and Shelton emphasized Columbus is their city too, and they wanted to work with citizens to decrease crime.
“It’s going to take all of us working together to achieve this common goal as far as trying to fix crime in the city, rather than just pointing fingers,” Smith said.
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