COLUMBIA — A new study by the National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform has recommendations for violence prevention in the city of Columbia.
The Community Violence Intervention Landscape Analysis was commissioned by the Office of Violence Prevention and examines Columbia's intervention efforts and the work of local organizations involved in reducing community violence.
The analysis found Columbia provides very limited community violence intervention services and has mostly focused on prevention and community transformation.
The findings, presented Tuesday by the Columbia Office of Violence Prevention, include recommendations for increased intervention services such as street outreach, school-based violence interruption and hospital-based violence intervention.
D'Markus Thomas-Brown, administrator of the Office of Violence Prevention, said this is a community solution to preventing violence and relying on community-based organizations to bring their resources into helping with violence reduction in Columbia.
The report, which is nearly 30 pages, details efforts by community-based organizations and includes statistics on fatal shootings.
It pulls data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol crime dashboard, showing there were nine firearm homicides in 2022 and 2024, but just three in 2025.
The study outlined steps necessary for preventing gun violence, suggested providing violence intervention services for free, and asked for community-based organizations to collaborate and coordinate efforts to avoid duplicating efforts and competing.
Thomas-Brown called for the study in January. City leaders and community organizations gathered in March to discuss ways to strengthen violence prevention efforts in Columbia as part of the analysis.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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