COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia Police Department released updated crime statistics for the year, showing an overall positive trend.
Overall crime is down 18% compared to this time last year, with violent crimes showing a 27% decrease.
“We're very pleased with that,” Holbrook said.
Holbrook attributes this success to community partnerships and the deployment of 1,200 cameras across the city.
“Some of our programming, like our Ceasefire program, has been very successful. We feel like our strategy is correct, and leveraging technology is where it needs to be. We think that's a good model to continue to follow,” said Holbrook.
However, Gwen Singletary, president of the United Alliance of North Columbia Neighborhoods, said that her community is not experiencing the same decline.
“We have a lot of issues dealing with property crime, as well as gun violence,” Singletary said. “That's one of our biggest concerns.”
Despite property crimes being down 16%, they remain higher than the national average. Holbrook noted that more than a third of car break-ins involve unlocked vehicles.
“If people would just lock their cars, we could probably see a 40, maybe even 50% reduction in property crime numbers,” Holbrook stated. “Our citizens can immediately impact the property crime rate.”
Singletary also voiced concerns about youth violence as summer approaches.
“Keep your eyes open, please find things for them to do,” Singletary urged. “The City of Columbia, Richland County, and organizations like the Urban League have many programs. Get your child into something productive; you can't always let them do what they want to do.”
The city's Public Safety Committee also discussed creating more hate crime protections and utilizing new technology in police chases.
The possible use of Star Chase technology was mentioned in Tuesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting. This tech launches a GPS tracker onto the car being chased so officers do not have to continue pursuing.
“We're going pilot it, we're gonna want to see if it's effective, and then if it is effective, we'll do a cost analysis on it,” said Holbrook.
Holbrook said the exact cost is unknown, right now.
“It's not cheap. We know that,” said Holbrook.
According to Holbrook, there were 41 total pursuits in 2023. 16 were terminated and another six resulted in tire deflation devices being used. In 2022, there were 70 total pursuits. 31 were terminated and 9 resulted in tire deflation devices being used.
“I consider our pursuit policy to be very restrictive,” said Holbrook. “There is very strict parameters on what will allow us to proceed, but also even when we are allowed or justified to pursue that we always look at the inherent risks that come with that and we're constantly doing our risk assessment.”