COLUMBIA POLICE OFFICER: Named Public Servant of the Year

2nd annual Robb Award recognizes a career devoted to crime prevention

COLUMBIA, 4/6/13 (Beat Byte) -- A veteran Columbia police officer who has devoted much of his career to neighborhood and residential crime prevention has been named winner of the 2nd Annual Dr. Edward H. Robb Boone County Public Servant of the Year Award.

Tim Thomason, who has directed the Columbia Police Department (CPD) Crime Free Programs and more recently, Neighborhood Watch, was so honored at the annual Lincoln Days celebration Friday night, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported.

The award is significant.  It recognizes one non-elected public service employee annually in Boone County, an area of 163,000 people that includes public servants in cities such as Columbia, Ashland, Centralia, and Hallsville; Boone County government; and the University of Missouri.

Thomason graduated from the Mesa, Az.-based International Crime Free Association program in 1999, bringing back to Columbia crime prevention strategies used in a variety of residential settings, from apartments to mobile home parks. "A drastic reduction in calls for service has been seen by many properties who have implemented the Crime Free principles," CPD reports on its website.

 

The Columbia Housing Authority has seen similar results implementing crime free programs on its properties, and County officials reference Thomason's efforts in this Boone County guide to landlords and crime.

The Robb Award is named for Boone County Presiding Commissioner Ed Robb, Ph.D. An economist and former State Representative known as a stickler for responsive public stewardship, Robb died while still in office two years ago.