Reduce police need with social support

It is rarely the right solution to try to cure disease by treating just its symptoms and ignoring the underlying cause.

Similarly, recent cries for police reform and oversight are an incomplete answer to growing violence as Columbus police also face tension and distrust with residents of communities to which they are called most frequently.

So The Dispatch is pleased to see Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce and others resolve this week to step up efforts to address the rising violence not only with more attention to gun crimes but also with more social support.

Ginther was right to acknowledge in a Wednesday news conference, “We know we can’t police our way out of everything that has happened and the spike in violence we are seeing.”

And Boyce is right that “no simple answer, no magic wand” exists to fix rising trends of lawlessness and aggression, especially among youth.

We agree that police must be part of the response to violence when it occurs, but turning the tide to prevent outbreaks is a larger issue calling for a more comprehensive and coordinated preventive approach.

It is hard to say how much of our growing recent violence can be attributed to side effects of coronavirus — people out of work, social interaction constrained and prospects for recovery in question — and how much is better attributed to long-festering issues of inequities in employment, housing, education and other critical needs.

Either way, easy access to firearms is certainly part of the problem. With Columbus on track to surpass the record high rate of homicides set in 2017, gun deaths account for 74 of 84 murders so far in 2020. That challenge won’t be solved anytime soon, especially with state and federal lawmakers blind to strong public demand for reasonable gun control and reluctant to buck a powerful gun lobby.

Increased and more effective intervention with young people is especially needed as they have become a bigger part of the problem. Of 41 homicides just since June 1, more than half involved victims under age 25, and seven of the victims were younger than 18.

One new prevention strategy by the city will be the formation of teams of police officers, social workers and city services representatives who will visit at-risk youth and offer help through mentoring and employment opportunities.

The county, meanwhile, is creating a family stabilization unit to handle referrals from state Department of Job and Family Services staff, juvenile court judges and other agencies, as well as persons seeking help directly.

And to aid the police response when shots are fired, Columbus is expanding its use of Shotspotter gunshot detection technology in communities where it is already deployed — the Hilltop, Linden and the South Side — while also introducing it on the Near East Side.

These steps are moves in the right direction, and much more is needed.

It is reasonable for elected officials to address Columbus’ long-known inequities in housing, employment, education and other critical needs as a way to stem an increase in violence. Others must be engaged in solving these issues as well — corporate leaders, nonprofits, faith families and service organizations.

Community violence hurts all of us, and reducing it helps all of us.

The more that can be done to give those who are struggling sufficient opportunity to realize their potential for success, the more prosperous, and less violent, the entire region will be.

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