‘We didn’t get here overnight’ meeting held to help youth turn away from 29203 crime

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - On Wednesday, a community plan was put in place to address the 29203 zip code. It is an area that police officials say has seen the highest crime rates in the city of Columbia year after year.

The public meeting was held at Earlewood to focus on ways to prevent youth from turning to a life of crime.

Kassy Alia spearheaded the meeting. Founder of “Serve and Connect,” an organization that works to bridge the gap between community and police.

Others in attendance included Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook, CPD police officers, community members, and organizations that work to help families.

If you ask residents like Billy Myers what one their biggest concerns are, they’ll say crime.

“I see it, I see it constantly it’s like on an every-day basis, especially with the area that I live in. I see it, it’s constant,” said Myers.

Myers and others like his friend, Haldon Showalter, have their own ideas on how to stop it. Showalter said it may come down to parenting.

“We need more counseling classes for like the parents," said Showalter.

According to data from Columbia Police, the 29203 zip code has seen 9 homicides this year.

The Lexis-Nexis crime map lists at least 50 aggravated assault incidents and at least 25 robberies of an individual, with at least 10 sexual assaults.

Kassy Alia said there is another challenge facing the youth of this community.

“As we dove into discovering what’s the next step, what we’ve heard from the police department is that one of their big needs is that gang activity in particular, recruitment of children as low as 10 into gangs,” said Alia.

Alia says Wednesday’s meeting is a first move to bring different groups together, to help build up families and overcome the problems this 29203 community faces.

“We recognize that not everything is a police matter and we can’t police our way out of a lot of problems," said Lieutenant Robert Calby with the Columbia Police Department. "However, we can get into our community and find out what role we can play.”

Santanna Hayes with the Midlands Fatherhood Coalition said their organization will work to help youth by helping fathers.

“We invest these resources into fathers,” said Hayes. “They’re able to in return re-invest that into their children.”

Hayes said there are several factors that reflect the crime in the area including income/economic pressures and home-family life.

While a meeting is a positive step, Myers and Showalter believe it will take more than just one gathering.

“Consistency... not just pop in and do a little interview or have a little thing at the park,” said Myers. "Actually come back and go out into these neighborhoods and actually spend time with the children.”

"We didn't get here overnight, so it's going to take us a little while to get out of it, but I know that we can," said Showalter.

Moving forward, Alia said she will work to gather data, like how willing are community members to work with other organizations. She will also look at if they have the time to work with others and if there is an infrastructure in place to facilitate the discussion of change. Alia said once that is done, they will have a more clear picture of where to put the pieces in place to help the 29203 area.

Alia said she hopes to bring that information to more community meetings in the April, or May time range.

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