During the Tallahassee City Commission retreat on Wednesday, elected officials will get an update on public safety.
Recently Tallahassee Reports published an article based on TPD daily crime incidents that indicated violent crime incidents were up 13.6% in 2023 when compared to 2022. In addition, there were 27 murders in 2023 compared to 21 in 2022.
The agenda item notes that at the beginning of FY21, “the City experienced an 11% increase in violent crime rates. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the City implemented proactive measures to address the root causes of this surge. These efforts led to a 10% reduction in overall crime in FY22. In FY23, preliminary analyses revealed a 13.6% rise in violent crime overall. This shift in the crime landscape prompted an examination of our existing strategies to determine how best to enhance our law enforcement capabilities and community engagement initiatives.”
Based on these trends, the city staff recommended a tax increase – which was approved – in 2023 to fund hiring 20 new officers, making additional investments to facilitate technological advancements, and increasing wages, particularly starting salaries for new officers.
The item notes that since January 2023, TPD has hired 34 new individuals to fill police officer and police officer trainee positions. Some of the new officers were police officer trainees, which means they had to go to the academy, and some of them were pre-certified officers.
TPD has successfully recruited officers from a number of agencies, including some from states as far away as Colorado, New York, Nevada, and Oregon. Among those recruited within the state and Georgia, officers came from Wakulla County, Santa Rosa County, Defuniak Springs, Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, Thomasville Police Department, and Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.
The meeting material states that “currently, the crime trend within the city has shown an increase in both property crimes and violent offenses. Property crimes encompass burglaries, thefts, incidents of vandalism, and violent offenses, including aggravated assaults, armed robberies, and physical altercations.”
In addition to new officers , the new Capital Region Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) began operating in early 2023. TPD notes that RTCC “has been instrumental in collaborating with partner agencies on several shootings, homicides, swatting calls, and the recovery of more than 120 stolen vehicles.”
The City Commission Retreat is scheduled to begin at 9:00 A.M. in the Parkview Ballroom at Cascades, 414 East Bloxham Street. You watch the commission retreat live through: WCOT Channel 13, Talgov.com Homepage, CityofTLH Facebook, and CityofTLH Twitter.
Tallahassee City Commission Retreat: Violent Crime Up 13.6%, Real Time Crime Center Helping Solve Crimes added by Staff on
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This is what I think is needed………………..
It has been brewing for some time now, people are getting to the point where they feel they can do whatever they want without any consequences and it is just going to get worse if we do not do something about it now. Over the last few Years, some Felonies have been reduced to Misdemeanors. They need to be changed back to Felonies and some other Misdemeanors need to be changed to Felonies. By the age of 14, everyone should already know Right from Wrong and know that, If it is not yours and you take it, that is considered Theft and you should be heading to Jail or Prison WHEN you get caught. With the Technology we have today, you WILL get Caught.
If you really want to lower the Crime Rate, we need to seriously get tougher on the Criminals. Accurate Charges need to be levied on the Crimes they committed. Most of the Crimes committed should receive Jail or Prison Time, Probation, Community Service and Fines. If you swing a Knife, a Bat, a Pipe, a 2×4, etc. in anger at someone trying to do the harm, weather you connect or not, THAT should be Attempted Murder. There are too many cases where the suspect was charged with Assault & Battery when it should have been Attempted Murder. The longer we keep Criminals in Prison, the longer they are no longer an Influence on others and the longer they are unable to commit more Crimes.
Even small Crimes should see Jail Times, Probation, Community Service and Fines. Suspects involved in a Hit & Run should do a Minimum of 15 Days in Jail, More depending on the Damage and if someone was hurt. ALL Hit & Run cases should be a Felony. I know you have seen the Tire Marks in the middle of the Roads and Intersections where People did Donuts in their Vehicles. If caught, the Driver should do a minimum of 15 Days in Jail, 100 Hours of Community Service, pay a $500 Fine and have that Vehicle Impounded until their Sentence is completed in full.
If you are pulled over and you do not have a Valid Drivers License you should automatically be arrested, they should do a minimum of 15 Days in Jail, 100 Hours of Community Service, pay a $500 Fine and have that Vehicle Impounded until their Sentence is completed in full. If you are pulled over and you do not have your Drivers License with you then, you should automatically be arrested, you should do a minimum of 5 Days in Jail, 50 Hours of Community Service, pay a $200 Fine and have that Vehicle Impounded until you can prove you have a Valid Drivers License. This all may sound a little harsh but, it is needed. Once word gets out, I am sure there will be fewer People being Arrested for these offences.
Yes, the Jail will fill up and so will the Prisons if Law Enforcement, the District Attorney, Prosecutors and Judges do what needs to be done. I say we need to build a New BIGGER Jail, a lot bigger, and use IT. We use the Jail we have now for the Short Timers, 5 to 30 Day Stays. To help pay for the New Jail, we stop spending money on the failed Programs that have been designed to prevent Crime and to try to convince the youth from going down that path and redirect it towards building the new Jail. Also to help pay for the New Jail I would also like to see a special Bail Fee created. If you get arrested and your Bail is set at $10,000 the Bail Bondsman adds a $100 Bail Fee For every $1,000 the Bond is. The Fee goes towards the building of the New Jail. If you can’t afford this, you shouldn’t become a Criminal.
ALSO: We need to add a new Mandatory Class for 6th Graders that I call “Crime and Consequences” where Students learn about the Consequences of committing Crimes. The City and County need to put up Billboards that show someone being Arrested with the words “YOU WILL GET CAUGHT” and Billboards that have Wanted Posters on them.
Maddox, Marks, Gillum, and Dailey have developed and honed the culture that permeates throughout and has had devastating consequences to the quality of life, health, safety, welfare, and economy of Tallahassee. They all should be in prison.
They don’t serve the people they serve themselves 24/7 and the people that have the ability and wherewithal to call them out on it… sit there and say nothing which is even worse. Most notably, Evan Power who went along with them misused Republican Party funds to help Dailey a – DEMOCRAT – in his last election and so on and so forth.
There are a lot of lawyers in this town who look the other way and are cowards. This culture started with Yordon was endorsed by Sue Dick, who cultivated the Usual Suspects and now a new generation emerges. We see new lows asTallahassee has become a ghetto and it’s time for the cowards to quit being cowards.
Reece Goade was a perfectly good city worker, but he is used as a cover-up to go along with the corruption and it has had devastating consequences. If Tallahassee doesn’t do a nationwide search for a competent, legitimate city manager, we are doomed. Also, the salary for the County Administrator is criminal when you compare it to what our men and women on our front lines law enforcement and fire department receive. Wake up!
Terry Ryan for Mayor!
This is just a typical statistic for any Liberal Democrat run community. Get use to it. Democrat officials know if the arrest their constituents they lose their vote.
As always; You will never solve a problem you willfully refuse to recognize.
Bottom line: the City of Tallahassee is a violent city with this 30% increase in murders and the other violent statistics, with a background of high student absenteeism from school fostering a training ground in these increases. These are indications of the deteriation in the family and its values.
Along side this is a disregard for the environment where the city has seen one of the largest volume of raw sewage spills in the history of the City and a gross lack of transparency on other environmental concerns. Plus, city staff refuse to take water samples as this sewage flows into our three Class III recreational waters and refuse to determine the sources of other contaminants. Citizen engagement with a “seat at the table” is ignored by staff.
Likewise, salaries of city and county upper management go way beyond the “absurd” levels and firefighters’ negotiations are stalled.
This is the annual background from the last several years and 2024 does not forcast to be any different.
We have hard statistics on TPD.
Why does the City still ignore the Tallahassee Fire Fighters?