A Safe Place to Do Business: Survey pegs security as perennial concern

Republic City Administrator David Cameron says crime is a huge issue in economic development.

He compares a business’s site selection process to homebuying. Just as prospective buyers tailor their searches on real estate websites to the size of the home desired, businesses looking for a new location hire companies to pinpoint a region that meets certain criteria. That includes available workforce numbers or whether it’s in a red or blue state.

“One of the major pieces is crime,” Cameron says. “If your crime rate or statistics are over a certain point, they don’t even consider you – you’re not even on their radar.”

And it’s not just the municipality’s crime rate that gets looked at, he says – a much wider net is cast.

“One thing that could actually keep us from landing larger businesses is the overall crime rate in our region,” he says. “It’s not just about taking care of your own little silo – you’ve got to look out for a much larger perspective.”

When it comes to crime and safety, the big picture matters, according to Cameron.

“What happens in Republic affects Springfield; what happens in Strafford affects Springfield,” he says. “And what happens in Springfield affects us all.”

Cameron says Republic is in a growth mode, and public safety is a top priority. The city frequently has community events that draw large crowds, and that’s good to see, he says, because the environment feels safe.

“Knock on wood – we don’t want there to be any crime, but we’ve not seen a big uptick or increase in it,” he says.

In a March address to the Springfield Business Development Corp., economic development specialist Ted Abernathy said southwest Missouri is poised for growth.

Abernathy pinpointed ways communities can position themselves to be competitive, and he stressed a cooperative business climate, ready infrastructure, a spirit of innovation and an available workforce.

Also on his list was risk, which includes not only the crime rate but also factors like political stability, financial stability and even weather patterns.

“Companies never used to ask us the risk question. Now they do,” he says.

Like Cameron, Abernathy notes that municipalities are filtered out by what they lack.

“The way that site selection works is we get a filter at the top and pour every place in America that fits with the filter in, and then we try to eliminate every one except one,” he says. “This is not an additive process.”

Perennial concern
Safety is an enduring concern among respondents to Springfield Business Journal’s annual Economic Growth Survey. In this year’s survey – as in the five years prior – half of all business leaders who responded identified improved safety and security as the primary form of help they require from city governments.

Crime is trending downward in the city of Springfield, according to the mid-year report presented to City Council by Police Chief Paul Williams.

That report showed 93 fewer instances of crimes against persons compared to the same period in 2023, for a 3.3% drop, and 108 fewer instances of crimes against property, a 2.2% decline.

A notable exception to the downward trend was in the category of crimes against society – including drug and weapon law offenses and gambling equipment violations. These trended upward by 207 incidents for a 19.9% increase.

“In any metropolitan area, the core city is going to have higher rates of crime than the suburbs, and that’s true here, too,” says Williams. “That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad place to live or there’s violent crime.”

The picture gets skewed, Williams says, because of the attention violent crime receives.

“Nobody wants to dive in past a headline,” he says. “As far as regular, ordinary citizens being the victims of violent crime, your chances are slim to none. Violent crime tends to happen between people that know each other.”

The Springfield Regional Economic Partnership website includes FBI crime statistics dating from 2020 to compare the Springfield metropolitan statistical area to other cities. Springfield’s violent crime index shows 631.6 crimes against persons for every 100,000 people, which exceeds the national average of 390.2. Williams notes that comparative statistics can be problematic because statistics available online are frequently outdated.

The website also shows property crimes exceeding the national average in the Springfield MSA in the 2020 FBI data. Springfield experiences 3,302 crimes against property per 100,000 people, while the national average is more than a third lower at 2,008.

Property crime is different than violent crime, he says.

“Property criminals are opportunists,” he says. “If you leave your car unlocked or you leave your lawn mower in your front yard or you leave your purse lay in the front seat or you leave your keys in the ignition, yes, you’re more than likely going to be the victim of a crime.”

Williams says the city’s crime statistics are audited by his department, the FBI and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

“We’re going to put the numbers out, and the numbers are what the numbers are,” he says.

He adds that public perception takes a while to catch up.

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, crime was at a high-water mark, he says. Additionally, the department has an ongoing staffing challenge, with 54 current police vacancies. Nevertheless, crime is moving in the right direction, he says.

“Every year, we have trended down through engagement, involvement, great police work,” he says. “We’ve been proactive on patrol and on the investigative side, working together to make things better – and that’s a good thing. But it will take a couple years for people to realize that.”

Williams says he is not surprised that safety and security are the top concern among business leaders surveyed by SBJ.

“They should be,” he says. “We want them to be engaged, involved and concerned about that, too, because we can’t do everything for everybody. We have to make sure we’re working together.”

The SPD website features a link to the online LexisNexis Community Crime Map, which provides real-time crime data for any address in the city. Williams says when he gets calls from businesses that are interested in locating in Springfield, he directs them to the crime map, which is updated daily and shows a year’s worth of data.

He adds that Springfield is a big city, and criminals go where there are more opportunities.

“We are not a small little rural community,” he says. “If you want to be part of a vibrant core city in a metro area, then locate here. If you want a lot of land in a rural setting or a suburban or metro community, pick one of the communities around the Springfield metro and do that.”

Different focus
Branson City Administrator Cathy Stepp says like all communities, Branson is trying to attract new investment, but it is also thinking about visitors.

“We’ve got a brand that we have to protect and uphold, and our special brand is faith, family and flag,” she says. “People who come here want to make sure they’re safe, and we take that very, very seriously.”

Since Stepp came on board two years ago, the police force and dispatcher core have become fully staffed and a new fire station has been built. A new police department is on track for completion in 2025. Safety and security are top of mind, she says.

“We make sure that we’ve got the highest standards and expectations for public safety here,” she says. “If Branson’s brand were harmed because of rising crime, that could be devastating.”

Stepp says most crimes that happen in Branson are property related, like shoplifting or theft.

“We don’t have to deal with murders or gang violence, but even those small things impact the everyday mom or dad that wants to go shopping or enjoy an attraction or go to the park. It’s a very violating feeling.”

It’s important to be straightforward with the public about what is being done to solve problems, she says.

It’s also important to listen to the people on the front line. She notes when she came on board, she faced a challenging culture and had to make some changes, both large and small.

One change was replacing duty belts with duty vests, putting more weight on officers’ shoulders and less on their waist and reducing the risk of chronic back problems.

Branson officers can now opt to wear cowboy hats as part of their uniform, she says.

“Those are the little things that help us attract more officers and more lateral hires,” she says, referring to experienced officers hired from other agencies.

Stepp says she is glad that a regional conversation is happening about safety and security.

“If it’s in our daily conversation, we’re more likely even regionally to gather and talk about the things we’re doing in our own little parochial worlds here,” she says.