When Frantrice Caine read the news about a mother and toddler being shot in Columbus over Memorial Day weekend, she was heartbroken.
Caine said she is no stranger to gun violence. She lost her brother Frank Edwards on Dec. 30, 2020, during a shooting on 12th Avenue South.
But the Memorial Day shooting struck her in a different way because she immediately imagined if it had been her own child in that situation.
“When I first found out that I was having a boy, (gun violence) was my main concern for raising him in Columbus,” Caine told The Dispatch on Saturday. “… (It has become) a major concern for me within the community. Where we live on the Northside, there’s always violence over there.”
Caine along with more than 60 attendees including concerned residents, public officials and organizational leaders gathered Saturday at Propst Park for Turning It Around’s third annual gun violence awareness program.
Residents spoke about their personal experiences with gun violence and voiced their suggestions for curbing issues within the city. Since the start of the year, The Dispatch has reported at least nine shootings within the city limits.
Jaylon Jones, who lost his 16-year-old cousin Marquez Carter on Sept. 28, 2024, during a drive-by shooting in East Columbus, said since losing his “best friend” he grows more concerned with each shooting he learns about in Columbus.
Jones said he thinks Columbus Police Department could do more outreach with youth so they become familiarized with officers and more comfortable around law enforcement.
“I think that with the law enforcement they need to take some time out, and if (officers) see some kids on the side of the street playing basketball or something, (they should go) talk to them and pour into them,” Jones said. “I feel like … every time that (they see) the police, they think that, ‘Oh, trouble is coming.’ Instead, they should be thinking … they are about to come pour in to me, maybe I should take heed to what they’re telling me.”
Jones and Caine agreed that regular CPD patrols could help benefit community relations with officers and curb some issues with shootings involving youth-offenders.
Jacquel Brown, founder and executive director for Turning It Around, a Caledonia-based nonprofit that helps provide resources to victims affected by violent crimes, said she believes more effective communication from the city council and CPD is needed to showcase mental health resources like Community Counseling Services and The Contact Helpline as a preventative measure for violence in the city.
“I think we just need to be out in the community, and letting (residents) know that this information is out here, the resources and things are out here,” Brown told The Dispatch following the event.
Alongside these efforts, Jones and Caine agreed they’d like to see more organizations and the city government offering programs to help residents find productive activities during the school year and the summers to reduce tendencies towards violent outlets.
While Caine did note resources like the Boys and Girls Club of Columbus and programs at the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA are helpful, there needs to be more tangible steps from local officials to address these issues.
“It’s one thing to do an interview when you’re talking about it on TV, but actually being hands on, that’s something we struggle with here in Columbus,” Caine said. “From my opinion, like I said, they get on the news, they talk about it – gun violence this, gun violence that – but nobody’s really out here in the fields getting hands on, talking to the people, trying to get the kids into something, or some sort of summer activity. None of that is really going on and it’s sad.”
Chief Joseph Daughtry said some of that engagement is already happening on patrols, though the department could do it more often.
“The guys are doing it,” Daughtry told The Dispatch on Monday. “They’re playing basketball with the kids. We help out with the special needs children when they play baseball. We play basketball at the Boys and Girls Club. But the community involvement with the police? Yes, that’s something that I stand completely in support of, and I encourage my guys to do it and do more of it.”
Daughtry said he believes addressing gun violence in Columbus is going to take both the department’s efforts and resident support to make an impact.
“We tried to do our neighborhood watch (last year), and some people wanted it, some people didn’t,” Daughtry said. “We kind of need (residents) help as well. … We don’t have a problem with partnering with the community in anything that they do, we’re willing to be there for them, because we are one part (of the solution).”
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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 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
