[Press Release] : Street Crimes Unit ready to go

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Bill Watkins, City Manager - (573) 874-6338; Randy Boehm,
Chief, Columbia Police Department - (573) 874-7404; Capt. Brad Nelson,
Columbia Police Department - (573) 874-7607

Street Crimes Unit ready to go

COLUMBIA, MO (June 25, 2008) - Columbia City Manager Bill Watkins,
retiring Police Chief Randy Boehm and incoming Interim Police Chief Tom
Dresner today announced that a four-person Street Crimes Unit will be
formed within the Police Department to deal with violent crime. The unit
is expected to start operations before the end of July.

Watkins said that the unit is designed to have an immediate impact on
continuing concerns with violent crime. “When we took this proposal to
the City Council, they were extremely supportive. They value safe
neighborhoods and the employees in the Police Department. We’re
grateful for their consent.”

Forming the unit could cost about $400,000. Watkins said that, because
of prudent city fiscal management, about $125,000 is available now.
“The rest will come from savings and efficiencies, including fuel
conservation, in other parts of city government,” he said.

Watkins said, “I credit Chief Boehm and his staff for thinking
outside the box and pulling this proposal together.”

The focus of the Street Crimes Unit, Boehm said, will be on those who
commit crimes and not on law-abiding people who live where the crimes
take place. “We’ll saturate those areas experiencing violent crime.
These neighborhoods will see an increase in traffic stops once probable
cause is established. The new unit is not there, however, for traffic
enforcement, and tickets will rarely be issued for minor violations.”


Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman agreed that most citizens will value this
strengthened approach on a daily basis. “Certainly, the criminals
won’t be happy with this, but that’s what we want. I think the
Street Crimes Unit sends a message that Columbia is serious about
dealing with this issue.”

Boehm said that the unit will include four police officers supervised
by Narcotics Sergeant Brian Richenberger under the command of
Investigative Commander Brad Nelson.

Origin of the Idea
In late 2007, Columbia experienced an increase in violent crime. Law
enforcement agencies formed a Violent Crimes Task Force that included
officers from Columbia Police, Boone County Sheriff’s Department,
University of Missouri Police Department and the F.B.I. This task force
operated during December 2007 and disbanded when officers had to return
to their regular assignments. 

The primary mission of that task force was to locate and arrest career
criminals, a small percentage of repeat offenders with records
demonstrating their responsibility for a large percentage of crime in
Columbia. By all measures this task force was successful. It arrested
more than 40 individuals for felony violations, cleared several
high-profile violent crimes, seized three firearms and made over 100
traffic stops. 

Recent studies have shown that the best manner to deal with violent
crime is responding quickly to multiple incidents of violent crime. This
has become known as “hot spots enforcement.” 

In general, hot-spots enforcement refers to police efforts to identify
the locations - a residence, a store, nightclub or other specific
address, a street corner, city block or neighborhood - that generates
the most calls to 911 or other indicators of criminal activity. Once
these areas are identified, special units similar to the Street Crimes
Unit will respond and devise ways of reducing crime. 

Strategies include targeting known offenders, using targeted traffic
stops and generally making career criminals aware that any violent
offenses will result in intense police scrutiny. The results of these
efforts can be measured through arrests, crime rates and community
feedback.

- 30 -
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