COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - When it comes to crime, few parts of Columbia have been more scrutinized than Five Points, especially, after the brutal beating of young Carter Strange.
But the Strange case also showed the value of community involvement in crime fighting.
The suspects in the attack were captured on video from one of the many surveillance cameras installed by Five Points businesses.
Police Chief Randy Scott says that proves criminal activity takes a hit when everyone pulls together.
"We have 385 police officers to patrol the entire city of Columbia," said Chief Scott. "If you only had those officers to patrol and protect, there's no way you could do that. So we have to enlist our community to assist us with proactive partnerships."
New figures indicate that violent crimes, robberies and aggravated assaults have decreased.
Five Points Association spokeswoman Merritt McHaffie says the cameras are just one weapon in an anti-crime effort that also includes formation of a team of police, fire and code enforcement officers who have long-term assignments in the district.
"It opens the lines of communication for us to be able to build relationships and be able to talk to each other and know each other and know the problems and know the issues," said Mchaffie. "It's something that Five Points businesses used to have and it went away about three or four years ago. And it was very important for us to ask them to bring that back."
Chief Scott says by next week, he might be able to say for the first time the city has zero vacancies on the police force.
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