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City Council 6 Feb 2017: Gunfire at Blair Center spurs action Chief Cross tells Council the rise of drug use parallels the rise in gun violence in the community. "Any time you have drugs, you have guns," he said, and noted that gun violence has spiraled out of control because of the rapidly rising drug situation. Special called meeting of Columbia/Adair County Parks & Recreation Board is on for 4pmCT, Thursday, February 9, 2017, to address new rules on 1) Rentals and 2) Park Policies and Procedures aimed at reducing the likelihood of another such incident at the park, whether it was drug related or not. Click on headline for complete story By Ed Waggener It wasn't on the agenda, but it was perhaps the biggest item to come up when Council Member Craig Dean asked, during the Council Comments segment, the last item on the agenda, about the "shots fired," report making the news. (see: Columbia PD investigates shooting incident at Jim Blair Center at the Jim Blair Center) After City Police Chief Jason Cross released the Saturday night/Sunday morning non-violent incident to the media, he talked with Adair Deputy CJE Andrea Waggener who then contacted Parks & Rec Board Chair Debbie Yates with concerns about it. The property is co-owned by the City of Columbia and the Adair County Fiscal Court. Councillor Linda Waggener, the City Council member on the Jim Blair Recreation Center board of directors, said that Debbie Yates, the JBC Board chairman, is already taking steps to bring the board together to address this situation with a special meeting. (That meeting has been set for Thursday night, February 9, 2017, at 4pmCT, at the Jim Blair Center, 901 Hudson Street, Columbia, KY, with only two items to be discussed: 1) Park Rentals and 2) Park Policies and Procedures.) Chief Cross: 'Crowd of over 200 too big for any police department in area' In response to Chief Cross' statements before the Council, Waggener said she felt neither the college nor the parks board would condone such behavior and that full cooperation would be given to the police in order to put a stop to it. She said the City Council had faced this same type challenge at the fairgrounds in the recent past and this could possibly be treated the same at the Jim Blair Park. Chief Cross said that he believed the gunshots were due to the presence of drugs in the community, and suggested that may have been the case with this incident. Chief Cross said that the drug situation in Columbia had now grown to the point that his agency can no longer meet the challenge with it's 10-person force. "There's not a police agency in the area which can handle a crowd of this size," he said. He was asked about getting help from the Kentucky State Police and said that they do assist any time they can. "But let's face it," he said, "their territory is spread over 10 counties," and added that even though there are a large number of troopers assigned to Post 15 in Columbia, the KSP can't always be there. He was asked about similar assistance from the Adair County Sheriff's Office, and said that his office always cooperates with the ASCO and Sheriff Moss, it isn't always possible to find sheriffs available when there is a situation such as the one Sunday morning. He said that what we are seeing, a rising incidence of gun violence, is directly related to the drug culture here. "Anytime you have drugs," he said, "you're going to have guns." (The Columbia Police Department Activity Report for the past month underscores that increase. See: Columbia Police Department Activity Report, Jan 2017) He would not say, would not rule out, that the shooting may have some relations to a shooting at Lindsey Wilson College on November 18, 2016. (Columbia Police respond to shots fired on LWC campus), but said that he currently under the belief that it likely could be. That incident is still under active investigation. Chief Cross alluded to a code of silence surrounding that incident and that, even though the administration of the school has been extremely responsive and helpful, that when students thought to have knowledge of that he believes is clearly a case of attempted murder are questioned, they clam up and won't give any information. He said he remains confident that the person or persons responsible for what he perceives as attempted murder in the Lindsey incident will end with justice being served. This story was posted on 2017-02-07 14:34:56
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic News:
City Council 6 Feb 2017: Gas overcharge issue revisited Parks & Rec Board special called meeting 9 Feb 2017 City Council 6 Feb 2017: Mayor gives heads up on dog law Journey to Recovery meets Friday, 10 Feb 2017 City Council 6 Feb 2017: Agenda items passed routinely City Council 6 Feb 2017: Jaycees to use City-owned Pavilion Food critic BJF says food great at A & M, but filet not lunch food Mrs. Virginia Handy Tutt, 94, Green County, KY (1922-2017) Golden Alert canceled. Mr. Terry found safe Columbia Woman arrested, faces several drug related charges View even more articles in topic News |
 
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