Community leaders come together to discuss youth violence in Columbus County

Community leaders, from law enforcement to schools and churches, gathered for a public forum to talk about youth violence and what can be done to evoke change on Thursday night.

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Community leaders, from law enforcement to schools and churches, gathered for a public forum to talk about youth violence and what can be done to evoke change on Thursday night.

The public forum was hosted by the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office. It featured a panel of speakers including law enforcement officers, school system officials, judges, attorneys, religious leaders, and representatives from the District Attorney’s office. They were there to answer questions from the public and engage in an open discussion about what’s been happening in the community and how they can work for a better future.

Many suggested getting law enforcement involved with more youth activities. Tabor City Police Chief Donald Dowless shared examples of how his officers are involved with kids on and off the clock, like going to play basketball with them at parks and hosting a community BBQ. Columbus County Teen Court Director Tony Shipman shared that the D.A.R.E program was a great way to engage with young people when he was with Highway Patrol.

Attorney Boyd Worley suggested heavily promoting athletics in schools, saying he noticed schools seem to have more trouble when their sports teams are having off-years. Worley also added that sports were his motivator to do good and school while he was growing up, saying he wouldn’t have been very interested in the idea of school without them.

Randolph Keaton spoke about his non-profit Men and Women United for Youth and Families that focuses on promoting economic and personal development in rural communities. It works to serve adults as well as youth, with programs geared towards GED prep courses to summer camps.

People came with many good ideas, but many were concerned with the transportation it takes to get to some of the programs. Columbus is one of the largest counties in the state, meaning not all resources are close by.

“We may need to balance the resources so where the resources that go out through one side of the county can be balanced throughout the remaining of the county,” Chadbourn Town Councilwoman Colene Kelly said.

A representative with the Sheriff’s Office spoke about the Cadet Program that welcomes children aged 10 to 18 to be “community service-minded, leadership-focused, administrative, and clerical related job functions in conjunction with knowledge of basic law enforcement.” Going back to the transportation issue, the First Sergeant in charge of the program says he picks several kids up for the program but he can’t get to them all on his own. He encouraged other community leaders and trusted adults to take initiative and offer to get kids to programs like the Cadet Program.

Another need was shared by the Columbus County Schools Superintendent Dr. Deanna Meadows. She says COVID-19 put restrictions on visitors coming into the schools, but now with restrictions mostly lifted, they would love to have volunteers in the schools to serve as mentors to students.

While everyone supported the idea of getting kids involved in positive extracurriculars, some agreed that it all starts at home and suggested parenting programs could be helpful as well.

“We all have to come together and realize if we are going to make a change in our community, it is going to take every single one of us working together, not pointing and blaming, but we gotta start with the home, we’ve got to reach parents,” Pastor Timothy Lance said.

Members of the audience also introduced concerns about drugs in the community. One parent who also works in the court system says she sees a lot of crimes are driven by addiction, so she would like to see more resources in the county for people who are trying to get help.

Two other people spoke up and said they would like to see mental health issues addressed as well as how to keep guns off the street and out of kids’ hands.

While the turnout was not what Sheriff Jody Greene had hoped, he was pleased with the discussion and hopes to see even more people involved in the next one.

“Please be at the next meeting. We’ve got the easy part over, we’ve talked about it, now it’s time for us to do something about it and we’re going to need the community’s help to put those boots on the ground that’s needed,” Greene said.

The next meeting date has not been set at this time.