COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia Police Chief discussed Five Points crime and safety measures with residents during a meeting on Tuesday night.
The meeting, held by District III Councilman Moe Baddourah, was geared towards informing people of the safety measures in place and asking for suggestions on improvement.
This meeting comes a couple weeks after the tragic kidnapping and death of USC senior Samantha Josephson.
Chief Skip Holbrook says the entire Five Points community should work to improve safety for residents and college students, especially when it comes to underage drinking.
"When I say it's a shared responsibility, we need everybody to step up and do what the right thing is to do in their areas of responsibility," says Chief Holbrook. "Ours in enforcing the law."
After adding more than 100 cameras, working with SLED for alcohol enforcement, and adding a ride share pickup location, there has been a drop in crimes like rape, robbery, assault and car break-ins.
However, the City of Columbia is working to make more improvements and has limited the amount of bars with extended hours.
"Collecting all of the thoughts that were shared with us today, we can go back to council members and say these are the ideas and laws that we want to pass to give the chief the tools that he needs to achieve safety and security in five points," says Councilman Moe Baddourah.
Overall, they say there needs to be a shift in the culture of the Five Points Entertainment District.