Columbus City Council voted Tuesday to establish its own rewards program for information that leads to conviction of crimes of murder, manslaughter and armed robbery.
The proposal, added to the council agenda earlier in the day, was particularly noteworthy in the wake of a tragedy that hit close to home for city leaders, coming just six days after the son of Mayor Robert Smith was shot to death.
Under the new program, a person providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of someone who has committed murder or manslaughter in the city would be eligible for a $15,000 reward. A person who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of someone who has committed an armed robbery would be eligible for a $5,000 reward.
The reward money will come from the city’s general fund.
City attorney Jeff Turnage said the reward program is allowed under Mississippi code.
Turnage made the proposal, providing councilmen with a copy of the resolution and the guidelines for the reward program. He noted discussions of the program had started weeks before the shooting death of the mayor’s son.
Davius Roshard Smith, 20, is accused of murdering his father, Robert E. Smith Jr., on Dec. 14 in their home in Columbus. The victim is the son of the mayor, while the accused is the mayor’s grandson.
The mayor was not present at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Funeral services for Robert Smith, Jr. are scheduled for Thursday.
In 2016, there have been nine deaths Columbus Police Department classified as homicides, four of which remain unsolved, with no suspects or arrests.
“In the past several years, there have been a number of unsolved murders,” Turnage told the council. “In consultation with Mayor Smith and Chief (Oscar) Lewis, it was their opinion that (the reward program) could be a tool to address this. It is the belief and opinion of Mayor Smith and Chief Lewis that there were some witnesses in some of these most recent murders, and this may help convince them to come forward.”
After a motion to adopt the resolution was made and seconded, discussion was limited to the ultimate cost of the program.
Ward 3 Councilman Charlie Box asked if there would be a cap on the reward program in the event that numerous awards were claimed during the same year.
Turnage said the council had the option of ending the program in the event it became too costly but added the nature of the criminal justice system made it unlikely that the program would create an excessive drain on the city budget.
“The criminal justice process is often painstaking and slow,” Turnage said. “We might get information tomorrow and make an arrest next week. But after that, you have a grand jury, a trial and possibly an appeal. So it’s unlikely that many of these will hit at the same time. It’s highly unlikely you have more than three in any year. I think $45,000 to get three murderers off the street is a wise expenditure of resources.”
The proposal passed by an unanimous voice vote with Ward 1 Councilman and Vice Mayor Gene Taylor recusing himself from the vote because he was serving as the acting mayor.
Columbus Public Information Officer Joe Dillon said the Columbus Reward Line (877-273-4552) will be activated today. The guidelines for the program are posted on the city’s website at www.thecityofcolumbusms.org.
Dillon said the reward program is not an attempt to replace the existing reward program known as the Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers.
“We’re not saying people shouldn’t use Crime Stoppers,” Dillon said. “But they can only offer $1,000 as a reward, so we feel like what we’re doing provides a greater incentive for people to come forward.”
Other business
In other city business, the council unanimously approved a proposal for the city to enter into an agreement with Baptist Medical Group to provide a primary care clinic for city employees, authorizing the mayor to negotiate the details of the agreement with Baptist Medical Group.
The city joins Lowndes County and Columbus Light and Water in participating in the new clinic, which would eliminate co-pays and reduced prescription drug costs for all covered employees.
The council also approved a proposal to conduct an environmental study of a proposed storm-water retention pond the city is considering on a 6.65-acre parcel on Brickyard Road. The site of the proposed pond is currently owned by Al Puckett.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford said the study, which would cost $8,000 and take up to 45 days to complete, would clear the way for negotiating the purchase, provided there are no environmental issues as a result of the study.
Stafford said the retention pond would greatly reduce flooding issues that are common along 14th Avenue and further south.
The council passed the resolution unanimously and Stafford said he hopes to be able to provide a preliminary report to the council at its Jan. 17 meeting.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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