One thing is clear following the community meeting on Thursday — a significant portion of the community is tired of being burglarized.
About 100 people attended the spur-of-the-moment meeting, organized by Cassville resident Donnie Stumpff via one Facebook post and on 24 hours notice.
In my dozen years as a journalist, I have never covered an event quite like it.
It was nearly an hour of open discussion, telling stories of repeated thefts and brainstorming solutions. The concerns were valid, from one woman who had $30,000 in property stolen from her to a man who said he’d shot at two people last week attempting to break into his home.
When asked how many in the room had been burglarized in the last year, more than half of those gathered shot their hands into the air. They decried a lack of investigation among police and a lack of prosecutions from the Judicial Center, demanding change and accountability from elected officials for how crime had gotten so bad and what can be done to fix it.
Considering what many of those residents have endured, it’s a fair question. Now, one question remains: Where do they go from here?
There were some good ideas that came from the meeting. The prevailing short-term solution was to gather individuals to form neighborhood watch groups in each small communities.
The group also plans to evaluate budgets, hoping to suggest a solution that will allow the Barry County Sheriff’s Office raise wages even more to hire more deputies.
There were also some not-so-good ideas that came from the meeting. Fortunately, those were all countered and buried.
Stemming thefts is a complicated issue. The process from crime to punishment is long, with responsibilities changing hands frequently and red tape criss-crossing critical steps along the way.
Take a burglary in progress for instance. The crime has to be called into 9-1-1 for dispatch; the police response has to be swift enough to catch the perpetrator, who can be held in jail for 24 hours; there must be enough evidence within 24 hours to form a probable cause statement; that probable cause statement must be substantial enough for Prosecutor Amy Boxx to believe she can convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt the accused did in fact commit the crime; the judge has to determine a bail amount or to release the person on their own recognizance, taking into account the pod closure in the jail and the level of violence of the crime; the person has to be found guilty or plead guilty; and the sentence has to be delivered in accordance with state law.
Phew.
An even more descriptive explanation of the process, courtesy of Boxx, is in today’s front page story. Information coming out of Boxx’s office is generally limited, and I very much appreciated her in-depth responses to my questions this week.
During the meeting and as a result of it, fingers are pointing in many directions, and there are some realities that need addressed.
Sheriff Danny Boyd and Boxx are both bound by their budgets, resources and time.
Two deputies per shift is certainly not enough to deter a burglar if they are not afraid of the response time. Yet, hiring law enforcement in today’s climate is a dismal prospect. Larger agencies have resorted to paying individuals to go through the academy in exchange for a two- or three-year commitment afterward. It may not be long before departments here follow suit.
Burglary is also a non-violent crime, and in 2019, Missouri — which has the 7th highest incarceration rate in the country and more than a third considered non-violent — passed a law excusing 80 percent of a prison sentence for a non-violent offender is eligible for parole. The maximum sentence for burglary is 7 years, and Boxx said sentencing to the fullest extent of the law generally results in a person doing 10 percent of the time — about 8 months and 12 days.
To address this, the community needs to contact state-level officials. Discussion of doing so at the meeting revolved more around how to use the state to get Boxx removed. That effort would be better placed into working with our state senators and representatives to address the law’s effect on smaller communities struggling with drug addiction and frequent thievery.
Efforts going forward with neighborhood watch programs could help in the short term, and in the long term. On Saturday, the Laclede County Record reported on such success.
Starting in 2017, Sheriff David Millsap and community members worked together to form Facebook group-driven neighborhood watch groups, 21 programs county-wide. In the first nine months of this year, burglaries have decreased 65 percent. Deputies are assigned certain communities, show up to their meetings and make extra patrols. The community is engaged in what’s happening around them and intent on preventing any criminals from having the opportunity to steal.
It’s proactive, not reactive.
Concerns with a neighborhood watch exist, too. Vigilantism is not welcome, and it’s a fine line to toe. A point at the meeting that kept arising is the fear of defending oneself and property and facing legal repercussions.
Would the system work if that fear did not exist? I don’t think so. Responding to criminality with crime is not the answer, and I would expect Boxx to weigh any such case as equally as all others under the scope of the law. That is fair.
As this story progresses, the Cassville Democrat will provide continuing coverage. Since the meeting was announced with such short notice, many said they could not attend but wanted to know what was happening.
With today’s technology and my philosophy as a journalist, I was proud to be able to do just that. I have been working to expand more into video and live streaming, and Thursday’s meeting was a fantastic opportunity to make the discussion widely available immediately.
The interest was overwhelming, only comparable to the live stream of the Hall Theatre fire in March 2022. The peak viewership on Thursday was 236 people — more than double in-person attendance — and in the four days it has been posted, it has reached more than 25,000 Facebook users.
That kind of engagement is proof of the power a community can possess when they take ownership and attempt to find solutions.
I hope to see that continue, and I hope to see the community staying engaged and working to collaborate with local and state officials to have their concerns heard, addressed and remedied.
Instead of pointing fingers, the community and officials who represent them must join hands and use all resources available to find solutions.
Stumpff said to the crowd, “It starts with us.” Boxx said in an interview the response should be, “How can I help?”
If things are going to get better, both statements are true. I hope in the next 60 days progress is made through cooperation, and I believe it can.
Kyle Troutman has served as the editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and became Publisher in 2023. He was named William E. James/ Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he won a Golden Dozen Award from ISWINE in 2022. He may be reached at 417-847 2610 or ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com.
