Porter Votes Against $625K Federal Grant to Hire Police Officers to Address Violent Crime

During the last city commission meeting, City Commissioner Jack Porter, saying hiring more police officers will not impact crime, voted against a consent item from the city’s consent agenda related to a $625,000 federal grant awarded to the city to aid in funding police officer salaries to address violent crime. The final was 4-1, in support of the grant.

Consent items are issues that staff believes are non-controversial and are included as one agenda item for the purpose of voting. However, elected officials are allowed to pull items from the agenda for discussion.

Porter pulled the item and stated she believed that hiring more police officers did not impact crime.

Porter’s position that hiring more police officers will not impact crime was criticized on social media in a video post viewed by over 40,000 people. Even progressive colleague, Commissioner Jeremy Matlow who is running for mayor, voted for the grant.

Also at odds with Porter’s statement is recently elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. Mamdani recently appointed a police chief that supports hiring more police officers to address crime.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who agreed to stay on next year, said in August, “the single most strategic thing the NYPD can do right now is hire more qualified officers.” 

The Grant

The city identified the DOJ COPS Hiring Program as a potential source to assist in achieving the strategic goal of increasing the number of sworn officers per capita and reducing violent crime. The competitive program provides funding to selected law enforcement agencies to hire additional officers to increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. 

The city’s application provided a community-based approach to address violent crime, with a focus on gun violence in areas that are experiencing the highest rates of gun-related crime. The five new officer positions will be assigned to these areas to reduce calls for service for existing personnel, which will provide increased officer availability for foot patrols, business checks, and neighborhood outreach, and allow for proactive initiatives such as youth mentoring, gun violence prevention interactions, and follow-up visits with victims and complainants. This creates an opportunity for increased officer and community involvement to proactively address quality of life issues before they escalate into criminal activity.

Officer assignment will be reviewed and adjusted throughout the term of the grant to reflect evolving trends, ensuring that these resources are aligned with public safety priorities. TPD will continue partnering with local organizations, including neighborhood associations and the Tallahassee Urban League, to identify community objectives and collaboratively develop problem-solving strategies that enhance public safety and trust.

The COPS Hiring Program funding is capped at a total of $125,000 per officer for three years of salary and benefit expenses. City funds are required to support the remaining cost of the positions, as well as to procure all equipment necessary to outfit the additional personnel.

The first-year cost of a new officer is estimated to be $220,000, inclusive of salary and benefits, uniforms, a vehicle, and all associated equipment.  Recurring costs are approximately $130,000 annually. The total estimated cost for five new officer positions for three years is $2.4 million. Acceptance of the grant will provide an offset of $625,000 to this cost. Due to the timing of the award, the positions and funds will be added as a part of the FY27 budget and each subsequent year thereafter.