COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The new initiative Operation Under Triple Digits is underway in Columbus intent on lowering the number of homicides in the city. 

We first told you about this story two months ago, when it was still in its early stages. 

A group of community leaders met at a restaurant Saturday afternoon to launch the initiative, with some Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children (MOMCC) members sharing their stories of how gun violence has personally affected them. 

Under triple digits is a homicide number the city of Columbus has not seen since 2015. According to Columbus Police, in 2023, there were 149 homicides. In 2022 there were 139. 

“It is not a statistic,” Ohio Rep. Dontavis Jarrells (D-District 1) said. “These are people who could have had a ripple of change in our communities had we done differently, had our communities done differently, had we had policies that could’ve helped them and saved them, had we not had the guns on the street.”

Speakers at Saturday’s event asked for people to put the guns down. City of Columbus Councilmember Emmanuel Remy said, “Crime on our streets and our neighborhoods has got to stop and this work takes all of us to make it happen.”

Ralph Carter, founder of We are Linden, added, “We are actively restoring and empowering our communities and that’s the only way this mindset and this initiative can move forward if we do it together.”

It’s a collaboration between Columbus Police, community and faith-based groups, and Franklin County. MOMCC founder Malissa Thomas-St. Clair said they’ll be using a data-driven approach, taking a deeper dive into the data of felonious assaults and homicides. 

“There is no one, you could be in your mother’s womb or you can be like my son, making a difference from death,” Thomas-St. Clair said. “It doesn’t matter the age, the race, or the ethnicity, it doesn’t matter. As long as we run it, we don’t need a dime. It’s going to be ran by us, we are going to get into the streets and it’s going to be led by passion.”

She added that they’ll be meeting with CPD to go over the data and work out ways to keep homicides under triple digits for 2024. 

“We know that even one more murder in this city is too many,” Remy said. “So, as Columbus is the fastest growing city in the Midwest, we will not allow the loss of lives to senseless acts, crime and violence be the norm in this city. We deserve and we can do better.” 

The goal is to reduce crime and rebuild a safer Columbus. If you’d like to join the movement, you can do so here.