The Columbia Police Department will no longer be responding to calls of lockouts starting on January 1st.
The department says if a person has locked themselves out of a residence or a vehicle, unless emergency circumstances exist, Boone County Joint Communications will refer them to an on-call locksmith.
The department reports responding to over 250 vehicle and residential lockout calls this year.
The new policy is an effort to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the officers by freeing them up from the lockout calls.
