Crime prevention committee set to sharpen priorities

The Metro Council Crime Committee will work to cement its list of project priorities on Monday. Councilman Trae Welch, who heads the committee, says its members will discuss “hard numbers on what we need, and vote on what we actually are proposing.” The committee recently decided a new parish prison, a new juvenile truancy center and a drug- and alcohol-treatment center are top priorities. “Addressing alcohol and drug problems and getting kids educated are two things that can reduce crimes,” he says. Welch says the committee is attempting to balance law enforcement needs with a desire to limit taxpayer burden. Key to that, he says, is to “identify things that are going to reduce crime as opposed to just building more prisons.” The committee favors using existing facilities and eliminating redundancy. “We’re looking for ways to fund them without asking people to pony up money,” he says. One example is a proposed $50 bench warrant recall fee in area courts, which Welch calls a “volunteer organization—the ones using it will have to pay for it.” Other avenues involve maximizing existing funding and partnering with nonprofits. Welch estimates Monday’s meeting, the committee’s fourth, will be its second-to-last before presenting its report to the Metro Council. “This will move the city forward,” he says. The committee, which includes representatives from the mayor’s, district attorney’s and sheriff’s offices, meets at a 4 p.m. Monday on the 11th floor of the 19th Judicial District Courthouse, 300 North Blvd. —Ian McGibboney