On June 26 at the Mississippi Municipal League Conference on the Gulf Coast, Mayor Justin McKenzie received the 2019 Public Safety Award for under 10,000 population on behalf of Columbia.
At the encouragement of the mayor, Police Chief Michael Kelly submitted the winning application. The involvement in the community and community outreach programs is what sealed the award.
“We have some incredible volunteers. It was such an honor to be chosen,” Kelly said. “It has been a corroboration between the police force and the community volunteers. We have so many volunteers working behind the scenes who made all of this possible.”
One of the programs Kelly spoke about Wednesday was Operation Just Cause, which focused on the drug epidemic in Columbia. Kelly said the police department created a “crime suppression team,” which is specific training for a group of officers in drug addictions and gangs to deter crimes.
Kelly said it is important to reach out to the next generation so the police department increased the number of student resource officers from one to three and started programs to educate students in the classrooms.
“We are building relationships with the students,” Kelly said.
Columbia also has the Police Explorer Post. It is one of the only posts in this area, Kelly said.
The police explorer program is a program for high school students who are interested in having a career in public safety. It is through the Boys Scout of America, and the students get to ride along with the officers, they can go to the shooting range and get to go to training.
“It has been very successful so far,” he said.
Front porch gatherings and “coffee with the cops” have been gatherings to get the community involved with the police department also, he said.
Also established has been a neighborhood watch program, which is utilized online, and the chief said they have a great relationship with Metro Crimestoppers.
“Between the two, we are solving crimes every week,” Kelly said.
Another outreach project through the police department is the Mercy Project. It is to help people battling addiction and steer them in the direction needed to get help. Through the department the person battling the addiction can learn where to get help and also help in finding funds for the programs. Kelly said two or three people have already graduated from the project and currently there are at least five people in the program.
A new project is beginning with the school year and that is Operation Handle with Care. The program is set up to help children and youth who have experienced trauma during the night, such as a death in the family, a parent is arrested or the child witnessed a case of domestic violence. The police will contact the child’s or youth’s school and advised the child needs to be handled with care, without going into specifics. All the appropriate people will be advise so the child or youth can receive extra attention if needed or maybe allow the child to take a test the next day so the child won’t be so distracted.
This is the second time Columbia has received the Public Safety Award. The city also received it in 2014.
Pictured Above: Police Chief Michael Kelly and police secretary Susan Ratliff stand with the Mississippi Municipal League Excellence Award for Public Safety for population under 10,000 which Columbia received. | Photo by Susan Amundson
