The Columbia Office of Violence Prevention reflected on findings from its meeting with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform on Thursday.
During the meeting, administrator of the Columbia Office of Violence Prevention, D’Markus Thomas-Brown, reviewed what they heard from last month's meeting with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform.
The Office of Violence Prevention held an interactive workshop in partnership with NICJR in March to talk about existing violence reduction efforts, develop shared definitions of community violence intervention and identify both strengths and opportunities for growth within the city’s violence intervention ecosystem.
The organizations discussed timelines for a 24-month collaborative project, including a gun violence prevention study. The analyses themselves will take four to six months.
The office is collaborating with the Columbia Police Department to complete the analysis. Thomas-Brown said collaboration is key to understanding gun violence in Columbia.
The NICJR gave the Columbia Office of Violence Prevention some 'key roles' to have as an office of violence prevention:
- Accountability partner for all agencies in the delivery of public safety
- Partner with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies
- Convene and coordinate government and community stakeholders
- Lead interagency coordination that encourages a "whole-of-government" approach
- Coordinate comprehensive and data-informed planning, implementation and evaluation
- Fund and support community-led efforts in equitable and strategic ways
The NICJR is also giving the office technical assistance, helping them with communications, data and crisis management among others.
Drew Hines is a Columbia resident, and said communication with the NICJR and city stakeholders is important to improve the Office of Violence Prevention and the city of Columbia itself.
"We're trying to get the (Office of Violence Prevention) birthed for the community," Hines said. "To be able to serve the community, but to provide education and tools to help curb and lessen the violence."
The Office of Violence Prevention was created in 2023, and Thomas-Brown became the administrator of the office in 2025.
Other topics addressed at the meeting included the "NoCAP" initiative. The acronym stands for the "Neighborhood Opportunity and Community Accountability Proconsul."
The initiative calls on the office going out into Columbia communities to ask neighbors what resources they need to succeed better, Thomas-Brown said.
"We're actually bringing resources to those because the adage is, those closest to the problem are closest to the solution, but lack the resources," Thomas-Brown said. "So what we said is, we're going to actually bring access to resources to those closest to the problem, living in the neighborhoods, and we're going to hear from them."
The initiative hosted an event at the end of March, called the "Spring Break Jump Off" at Indian Hills Park, an event meant to unify the east side of Columbia.
Thomas-Brown said future meetings will discuss a strategic plan for the building and functioning of the office.