Columbia Office of Violence Prevention requests funding from Department of Justice

COLUMBIA — The Columbia Office of Violence Prevention has requested funding from the U.S. Department of Justice to expand its community impact.

"We can't do prevention work and expect intervention results," Administrator D'Markus Thomas-Brown said.

Thomas-Brown said this funding would help with proactive responses to violent crime.

"As (Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude) would tell you, there are individuals that are currently on their list of persons who do certain activities, and while they are not necessarily enacting violence now, they're proponents of that," Thomas-Brown said.

Thomas-Brown said these people would be addressed by rapid response teams to intervene with crises at home.

"Intervention and prevention is really tough to quantify, yet no one talks about when a shooting doesn't happen — but we love to talk about when a shooting does happen," Thomas-Brown said.

The office requested $1.8 million from the federal government to use over a four-year span.

The funding would add staff in the form of two outreach supervisors and a community violence intervention manager. It would also include collaborative efforts with the Columbia Police Department. Those additions would be included alongside an office built for them to work out of.

These roles would allow rapid response teams to work in high-crime areas and connect resources more effectively. The office uses stressor maps and GIS maps to determine areas that need attention the most.

"When the police are called, we have a situation that has already happened and then people are responding reactively to a situation," Thomas-Brown said.

The office gets its funding from the city’s general fund, which also includes the Police Department and Fire Department.

It is unclear when and if this funding would get approved.