TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Crime is once again a big topic of concern for people in Tallahassee.
Community members came together for a "Stop the Violence" rally at Akbar Law Firm Tuesday night. Folks discussed the issues they're seeing not just in Tallahassee, but throughout the Big Bend and the entire country.
Many say it comes down to money. They want to focus on building better community programs and getting grants into the hands of kids to help them continue their education.
"I think the community starts first. Once we change the community, then we can impact the state," said John McMillon, the rally co-organizer. "We hope that there'll be a national outcry, people all over the country will start doing these type of things."
At the "Evening with the Chief" event downtown Tuesday night, Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo assured residents that, even though violent crime in the city is up about 5% compared to last year, overall crime is down.
However, he says keeping crime down comes back to the community.
"There was some conversation about street-level prostitution and drug selling. We can deal with that from a law enforcement perspective and make some arrests and clean up the street," said DeLeo. "If the community doesn't take hold of that void that's created and put something good there to take ownership of that street now, all we've done is created a vacancy for a competitor to come in and look, they have a bigger market share. So it's important for the neighborhoods to be engaged and say that behavior is not acceptable here."
It seems for many in the Capital City, that message is hitting home.
"This is my community. This is your community and if you don't help take care of your community, somebody's issues could be in your backyard," said Tallahassee resident Cassandra Jenkins.
Chief DeLeo also says Tallahassee number one problem is burglaries from vehicles. If everyone locked their cars at night, he says the overall crime rate would go down significantly, even up to 20%.
