As someone who has lived in center city for almost 15 years, and in the Springfield area over 40 years, I can go anywhere using the same common sense practices that you would use on any college campus, shopping center parking lot or urban setting. Those include being aware of your surroundings, seeking out good lighting and traveling in groups when possible.
Security is at the heart of the “clean, safe and friendly” mantra of the Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District and all urban revitalization. The Downtown CID, Springfield-Greene County Library District and city of Springfield partnered to fund $90,000 in supplemental police patrols in 2014.
The Downtown CID works daily with police to proactively address issues and track data. It monitors six categories of offenses: assault, general disturbance, graffiti, peace disturbance, stealing and vandalism. The number of incidents in those six areas increased just 2 percent in 2014, at a time when the number of residents was growing rapidly. Assaults were down 5 percent, while stealing and peace disturbances were down 14 percent each.
The numbers for the entire city of Springfield’s 2014 Uniform Crime Report were even stronger with a 12 percent decrease in reported crime from 2013.
All that said, the headlines from across the community in the first couple of months this year are alarming, with multiple deaths resulting from a variety of circumstances.
What can the average business owner or resident do to help keep the statistics heading in the right direction? Here are two areas where the Springfield community can and should do more.
‘See something. Say something.’
In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security started using this catchphrase: “See something. Say something.”
Its applications go beyond terrorism.
The saying has been emphasized by the Springfield Police Department to assist in deterring all sorts of crime.
Witnesses can call 911 to report suspicious activities around buildings, cars or public spaces. They can make note of areas with insufficient lighting and share it with community improvement district staff, neighborhood leaders or the city’s Citizen Resource Center, at (417) 864-1010. Taking ownership in and around the home and workplace is critical to preventing crime.
Neighborhood Watch and Business Watch are voluntary programs for concerned residents who want to help improve security. Participants learn how to be a more effective witness, assist in property identification, conduct security surveys and implement precautions. The Downtown Springfield Association has scheduled a Business Watch session at 6:30 p.m. March 30 at the Missouri State University e-Factory. Information on future Neighborhood Watch trainings is available on
SpringfieldMo.gov.
Enhance economic opportunitySpringfield is the only city in the state of Missouri with the dubious distinction of being in “severe fiscal distress,” according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Over 17 percent of our households are in poverty, and the median income per capita is a meager $20,857 – both of which are red flags for HUD. Springfield retained the rank of lowest per capita income in the state among major cities. Only St. Louis has a higher rate of households in poverty, at 21 percent.
Employment isn’t the issue. The November 2014 unemployment rate for the Springfield metropolitan statistical area was 4.3 percent, ranking fourth best in the state and well ahead of Kansas City, 5 percent, and St. Louis, 5.6 percent. Families are working, but they aren’t bringing home enough income.
The business community must continue to work with educators from early childhood to higher education, and with government officials and nonprofit leaders to better educate all residents with the skills needed for better jobs. These advanced skills will lead to higher-wage jobs to break the cycle of poverty. Need is an all too fertile breeding ground for crime and violence. Springfield is not the quaint, small town of my youth. It is safe, but the future of safety in the Queen City will be determined by the ability of its residents to take ownership of their own spaces and how effectively the community addresses economic opportunity.
Rusty Worley, executive director of Urban Districts Alliance, can be reached at rusty@itsalldowntown.com.
