Columbia’s city council has scheduled a work session on downtown public safety for September 14.
The city also says it has placed a security camera at Ninth and Walnut downtown in response to last weekend’s shots fired incident and to July’s chaotic fights where seven people were arrested.
Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, city manager De’Carlon Seewood and the city council have issued a statement about the recent incidents, saying public safety is a top priority in Columbia. The statement says they’ve taken several steps to improve public safety downtown, including an increased police presence during peak hours, targeted enforcement of assaults and weapons violations, reviewing lighting and traffic flow and organizing meetings with downtown bar operators.
The city also says CPD plans to reestablish its downtown unit with funding generated from Proposition One, which was approved by Columbia voters this month. It is a one percent sales/use tax that will be dedicated to public safety. Mr. Seewood says the new tax will start being collected in January 2027.