TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - For the past three years, Leon County has had the highest crime rate in the State of Florida.
Tuesday night, the Board of County Commissioners agreed to hold a workshop to address the issue.
While the number of violent crimes and property crimes has gone down since last year, the county still ranks at or near the top in both categories.
County commissioner John Dailey says understanding how crime impacts local communities will help officials in government and law enforcement tackle issues more effectively.
"This is a very important issue in our community, and we need to stay up with where the crimes are taking place, what type of crimes are taking place -- all the statistics associated with law enforcement here," said Dailey, chair of the board. "We felt it was very important to bring the law enforcement community together to brief us on what we are doing, where we are going, how we're handling this issue, and what the county commission can do to support it."
The workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, September 12th, starting at 12:30 p.m.
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Commissioners also received an update about a newly revamped mobile app designed to help residents stay in touch with local government.
The county launched the remodeled "Citizens Connect" app on June 1, and it already has around 2,000 downloads.
The app allows residents to report a number of issues, including potholes, mosquito control and illegal dumping.
It's also used as an emergency alert system. Last month, sandbag locations were given during Tropical Storm Cindy.
The app also provides online access to different services, so residents don't have to go to offices and wait in lines to get answers.
"It gets citizens to be able to submit their own ideas and suggestions about what we can do better in county government, because we can't do it all -- and we shouldn't do it alone," said Mathieu Cavell, a public information officer for the county. "So, we lean on our citizens to do good work in the community we serve."
