TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Local law enforcement met with Leon County and Tallahassee officials to share an update on public safety, spending two hours going over crime and ways to stop it before it happens.
There have been three homicides since the last city commission meeting. That brings this year’s total to 21. But officials are stressing that these figures need to be put in perspective and shouldn’t panic the public.
Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo has been tapped to lead the “public safety collective,” which includes State Attorney Jack Campbell and Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil.
DeLeo said much of the violence in the county isn’t random and that many of the suspects arrested in homicides and shootings already had a criminal history.
Overall, crime is down more than 14 percent between the city and county compared to this time last year. To help keep the numbers down, police will install six cameras next week in the Bond Community.
“The strongest thing that we can do is to have an active community that works with the police department and law enforcement – whether they call us directly or call Crime Stoppers," said DeLeo. "What they will do is help build some cases with having better evidence, which will give us a better case to work with the state attorney’s office on – and hopefully, in some incidents, it will help prevent and deter a crime as well.”
The meeting also included an update on what’s called the neighborhood public safety initiative and a program called “T.E.M.P.O.” that reaches out to disconnected youth. This is the first commission meeting since city manager Rick Fernandez decided to take an administrative leave as the Florida Commission on Ethics investigates.
