Columbia gun violence analysis focuses on community intervention

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Engaging more with people who are at risk of getting involved in gun violence is one of the main takeaways of a report released by the City of Columbia on Tueday.

The City of Columbia's Office of Violence Prevention presented findings from a Community Violence Intervention Landscape Analysis on Tuesday morning. The report identified three areas of focus, starting with more community engagement.

According to the report, this could include expanding community violence intervention services to street outreach and violence interruption in schools and hospitals.

The report also found that a lack of funding has resulted in some services requiring fees, and those services should be available for free. The report also found that excessive paperwork for various agencies can also be a barrier, and that reporting requirements should be streamlined and shared.

The repot also asks Columbia's community-based organizations to work on collaboration and coordination between organizations.

"Although many [community-based organizations] in Columbia have built strong relationships, work across the ecosystem as a whole remains segmented. A contributing factor to this disconnection has been a lack of trust between organizations," the report found.

The report asks that the Office of Violence Prevention provide guidance to the organizations to help them collaborate, get to know one another, build trust and share similar values.

The Community Violence Intervention Landscape Analysis was conducted with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform. The City of Columbia Office of Violence Prevention contracted with the institute in January to explore ways the city can curb violent crime.

In the following months, the Office of Violence Prevention met multiple times with community members, awaiting data from the institute to form a multi-year plan.

In June, the institute provided the city with an update as it works on two reports: a "Gun Violence Analysis Report" exploring the drivers of gun violence in the city and the Community Violence Intervention Landscape Analysis, which will be presented Tuesday.

The institute plans to deploy a multi-year plan that incorporates all of the research in an effort to boost violence reduction and intervention.

Check back for updates.