Officials urge residents to take collective action against crime.
Community policing is a hot topic in Columbia’s Ridgeway neighborhood. On Aug. 18, City Manager Bill Watkins announced a crackdown on drugs, prostitution and other nuisance crimes in the North Garth Avenue area.
Assistant City Manager Paula Hertwig-Hopkins and two Columbia police officers, Chris Kelley and Rob Kiesling, met Saturday with about 15 members of the Ridgeway Neighborhood Association to discuss police activity in the area since the crackdown. At the meeting, which was held at the Downtown Optimist Club on Grand Avenue, they also encouraged residents to organize a neighborhood watch group to assist the police in curtailing criminal activity in the area.
“A neighborhood watch is not just for turning in the other guy,” Hertwig-Hopkins said. “It’s there to build a community relationship.”
Neighborhood association president Rebecca Schedler agreed that residents need to do more to aid the police in cleaning up the neighborhood.
“Police crackdowns alone don’t solve the problem,” Schedler said.
Kelley discussed a recent undercover operation in connection with the Missouri Highway Patrol, in which 14 drug-related convictions have resulted from arrests in 25 crack cocaine buys in the area.
Some residents did not, however, feel that the city was doing enough to clean up the neighborhood. They cited recently arrested suspects who were soon back on the streets, as well as a lack of visible police presence in the neighborhood.
John Clark, a resident and former mayoral candidate, said that prior city government administrations have walked away from budget proposals to enlarge the city’s police force to an acceptable level.
“The police force is at a level needed for community policing in the city 10 years ago,” Clark said.
Kelley responded by saying that suspects are entitled to due process as well, so results may take some time.
The association did not move to approve a neighborhood watch group but did form a committee to further discuss the matter.
Schedler said if residents did their part, the neighborhood would see positive results. She pointed to the city’s visioning process and other city programs that she said could improve public safety in the area.
“There is a lot going on,” Schedler said. “People need to get involved.”