But is 15-month deadline too late?
Charged with "studying and evaluating violent crime in Columbia, in order to ensure a safe community," task force members will be asked to study early childhood education; mentoring programs; curfews; and repeat offender issues.
Led by Council members Laura Nauser and Michael Trapp, the task force will present a report over a year later: on November 15, 2014.
Critics say that's too long to deal with such a pressing problem, but supporters claim crime is too complicated for a study to generate faster answers.