The Leon County Sheriff’s Office recently announced the appointment of Royle King as the executive director of the Council on the Status of Men and Boys.
The council was established in response to a study completed by the sheriff’s office, Anatomy of a Homicide, which details the potential cause of gun violence in Leon County.
Sheriff Walt McNeil stated the study indicates that young people who have been expelled from school, dropped out, or were moved to an alternative school made up 83% of those involved in gun violence. He confirmed that the council would focus on social services and programs to redirect troubled youth and get them back on track.
The City of Tallahassee, Leon County, the Leon County School Board, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, and the Tallahassee Police Department are funding the council for a total of $350,000 for the first year. McNeil made clear that once up and running, the council will begin seeking grants and other means of financing.
Royle King, who is from Dallas, attended Florida A&M University, earning his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. He currently serves as the Volunteer Services Manager for Leon County. In his new full-time position as the council executive director, King will earn a salary of $85,000.
King is the founder and executive director of the Omega Lamplighters Club, a mentorship program that works with minority children ages 12-18. The club’s goal is to establish relationships with young men and offer them guidance and support to help instill leadership and academic skills.
During the press conference outside the courthouse on August 1, King declared he was ready for the challenge. “Once we assemble this team, we’re going to take one boy at a time and change this community,” King said. “It’s going to be a lot of work, but we’re ready. I’m ready. Everyone here is ready, and we’re going to do it.”
Saw Royle today (8/23/22) on Leon Co Today. In 3 weeks he met with Rocky the School Board dude and determined there is a relation between black youth dropping out of school and becoming a criminal. If Royle is being paid, the community deserves more.
Actually, I want someone to tell me the status of men and boys. I leaned this many years ago while in basic training at Fort Polk. My drill sgt. was our father figure and he taught us how to lead and be respected. Maybe a new program could be started for free, and it’s called military enlistment training be all the man you can be.
@ Todd… what you mother says when she walks in on you in the bathroom, is none of our business.
Wow…wackos again
@ Edward
The media, (aka the public mouthpiece of the Democratic Party)) continuously keep playing the “color-card” in the never-ending effort to divide this country. Unfortunately, it’s been working very well and will most likely continue into the future as long as “normal people” appear to be bothered by it.
Our only defense is to try to ignore this constant “in you face” reporting technique. We should also ignore all the similar LGBTQIA+ daily emphasis along with the wokeness and CRT stuff.
By the way, white people are not actually the color white. I think they are actually more pinkish in color.
@Edward — I truly believe that we’ll all be better off when the media lays off the “first” articles.
Justice Brown is neither the first black justice nor the first female justice but a big deal is made of her being the first black female.
So what? She’s a Supreme Court justice. Celebrity needs to end there, not with “First person of color that doesn’t know she’s female from a state with a name that doesn’t start with ‘C’ and stands 5’8″ tall”.
@ Edward…
100% correct!
In the interest of “equity”… why is it the title of the endeavor simply denotes the Status of “Men and Boys” when the multitudes of photos of the recipients involved seems shall we say less that diverse? Should not the tile be the Status of Men and Boys “of color”? Having said that: why is it that we allow ourselves to be categorized by color anyway?
Why is it that we allow the Political Swap Rats and their Media PACs call us “white, black, and brown”?… they made the color associated with Asians (yellow) and the color associated with American Indians (red) illegal to use, and even forced sports teams and the like to change their names.
So again I ask… why is it that any of us allow ourselves to be categorized by color? Are not we all simply “people of color”? I’ve never in my life seen a “white” person or a “black” person. What I seen are members of the Human Race which is comprised of countless shades of individualism.
… ok, I’m done now… 🙂
Royle King may just be the right person to take an initiative filled with hope, prosperity and good things to come. A shining example for young men to be inspired.
Under King’s direction, take a look at what the Omega Lamplighters Club is all about and what it’s done for some of our local boys. If King can help produce similar results in his new leadership position, we may be pleasantly surprised at the results.
https://www.omegalamplighters.org/about-omega-lamplighters
There is no such thing as “gun violence”… however, there is such a thing as “violence committed using a gun”
Stop. Just stop. “Gun” is a noun. It describes an object. It is NOT an adjective. The phrase “gun violence” mischaracterizes the gun as responsible for the violence when the gun has never had a violent thought in its entire life.
Solving the problem requires honesty at all levels, and that includes the terminology.
I wish Mr. King the best in this endeavor. His success would mean success in keeping young mean out of trouble.
Perhaps a good place to start would be to return the Boys Clubs to places where adult men can monitor and mentor boys into becoming good men.
I hope this helps and I agree with him there is a connection between Black Youth dropping out of school and becoming criminals.