Columbia police chief says he has seen 'unmatched courage' by officers during his tenure

Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones is ready to have a chance to spend more time with his family. While his tenure as chief will come to a close Aug. 1 and he plans to take a vacation, retirement will not stop him from working, he wrote in a message to the Tribune this week.

Jones received official recognition Monday for his years of service to the police department by Mayor Pro Tem and Ward 2 Council Member Andrea Waner.

"The city council extends its heartfelt thanks to Chief Jones for his dedication, public service, and commitment to keeping Columbia a viable city. We wish Chief Jones much joy, happiness and good health in his retirement," she said, reading from a resolution of appreciation.

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Jones is a lifelong Columbia resident and first started with the department at 15 as a cadet while he was attending Rock Bridge High School. His official employment with the department dates back nearly 25 years to November 1998.

Following various rank advancements, Jones was appointed chief on Aug. 5, 2019. He had served as interim chief following the resignation of former chief Ken Burton in late December 2018.

"I am thankful for the people I get to work with every day. I have seen the impossible achieved, heroic actions, kind service, and unmatched courage. I could not be more proud of their work," Jones wrote in his message to the Tribune.

Starting as chief; leading during a pandemic

When Jones came in as chief, it was under the cloud of his predecessor. Columbia residents had their first chance July 8 to provide input on what a consultant should look for in the next police chief. One concern was a backslide in the progress Jones has made since he started as chief.

More: Public gets first chance to voice opinions on police chief search

Jones had to build back public trust in the police department, which is an issue affecting all law enforcement.

"I felt it was important to be present and available. More importantly, we presented opportunities for officers and professional staff to engage with our community when we were not enforcing the law," Jones wrote. "There has always been an acknowledgment that we have to continue to improve, and we have worked hard to make sure the community was part of that process."

That community engagement was hindered in large part roughly seven months after Jones started as chief with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Department staffing levels also has prevented a model in which officers regularly are on the same beat in the same area, so as to build those community connections.

"This period really set us back in the effort to increase relationships in beats and maintain staffing levels," Jones wrote about the COVID-19 pandemic. "Trying to recruit during this period was increasingly difficult, and it is my belief that COVID has had lasting negative impacts on recruiting; not only for police but across all service lines."

The department, during the height of pandemic, was always one exposure away from putting an entire shift into quarantine or worse, he added.

"We had to reduce services, reduce face-to-face contact, and sanitize everything regularly. The staff performed, even with all of the barriers they had in front of them," he wrote.

Community relation improvements

Despite all of this, Jones still had goals of improving community relations from when he first started as chief through to today.

"Creating a culture of service was and is important, " he wrote, which included "providing customer service training, community policing training, requiring staff to attend public meetings and events and adding measures of performance in employee evaluations that measured community engagement."

This also meant doing a deep-dive on traffic stop data. Other internal improvement goals Jones had during his tenure was improving violent crime clearances, in particular homicides, along with better intradepartmental communication among officers.

"By arresting those responsible for homicides and identifying those on the periphery, we have a much better chance of reducing some of the harm caused by violence," he wrote. "... (I sought) a working environment where employees are heard, and respected was important. Command staff meetings (were opened) to all employees."

More: Police discuss community crime data in minutes after alleged homicide

Jones also wants the community to know that even though the work might not always be apparent, officers never stop working for the community, especially those who are victims of violent crime.

"(We) are impacted by every loss. They don't always show it, and many never see it, but they work for hours and days without rest in an effort to give whatever measure of closure they can provide," he wrote. "We all recognize that it is rarely of comfort to solve these crimes, but they feel responsible to you and the community to bring justice and hopefully prevent the next attack."

Searching for the next chief

The city still is in the early stages of its search for the next police chief, which may not be selected until the end of year. Jones does have some hopes for whoever is selected.

"I hope the city finds a chief that cares about the employees and the community. I hope they find a chief that is present for employees and the community. I hope employees will be excited about the next chief and feel energized by the change in leadership. I hope the department continues to promote a culture of service; not only to the community but to each other. I hope that we as a city and a department find ways to be better tomorrow than we are today," he wrote.

Whether the person selected as the next chief is an internal or external candidate should not matter, he added.

"We as a community must demand the right person who meets the needs of our community. These needs are internal and external and should be carefully weighed in the choice for the next chief," Jones rote. "We certainly have some talent in the building. Officers and (the) community alike want the best, regardless of whether they are internal or external."

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Police Chief Geoff Jones reflects on tenure in Columbia