During the September 27, 2023 City Commission meeting, a number of citizens voiced their concerns related to the city budget during the time allotted for public comment.
Several speakers protested the proposed budget passed by the City Commission, including a 14% increase in the TPD’s budget. The speakers claimed the City’s crime problem cannot be solved by the increase and will only make matters worse.
One speaker stated the crime problem could not be solved by “band aid solutions like over policing”. He continued stating, “We need to be supporting solutions like the affordable housing proposal, which the City Commission shot down previously.” Additionally, he suggested the Commission find solutions for the community’s most vulnerable groups.
Members of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee – which have labeled TPD Police Chief a “killer cop” – also spoke at the meeting.
A Tallahassee Community Action Committee member and school teacher explained that the children at her school are afraid to interact with the school resource officers, stating, “They know that interacting with police doesn’t end well in their community, so why would it end well in school?” She continued, “More than half of the City’s budget already goes towards our police, and our City budget towards policing has increased in the past 3 years higher than it’s ever been.” She concluded, “Just the other day there were armed people running around Tharpe Street, and it took the police almost 12 hours to find them. What are we giving police so much money for if they can’t even solve crime effectively.”
The President of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee stated, “I feel like Dailey, and as I like to call them his ‘lackies’, aren’t really concerned about crime. Because if you were concerned about crime, you would take a proactive approach, like solving homelessness, solving hunger, solving the mental health issues that plague this community, that’s how you solve crime in the City of Tallahassee, not a reactive approach, meaning, having cops come afterward and clean up the mess.”
Additionally, The Vice President of Students for a Democratic Society expressed his concern for the budget increase stating, “Crime doesn’t come out of thin air, it comes from a lack of resources. You’re trying to strip those resources from people. You do not represent the people of Tallahassee. If you vote to increase property taxes, you’re proving that.”
Anti-Law Enforcement Groups Comment on City Budget, Tax Increase added by Tristyn Leigh on
View all posts by Tristyn Leigh →
“A Tallahassee Community Action Committee member and school teacher explained that the children at her school are afraid to interact with the school resource officers”.
School is the ideal place and time to change that. The SRO is largely a benign presence in the schools. Teach the kids that it’s OK to say “hi” to him as you walk by, to smile and acknowledge him, to treat him like you would anyone else.
When you teach kids to be afraid of the police, or allow the kids’ fears to continue unchecked, you’re doing a disservice to the kids and everyone else. Don’t let the adult failures lead these kids down the wrong path!
School Teacher says: ” “They know that interacting with police doesn’t end well in their community”……… There is a difference between “Interacting” and “Noncompliance”. If they interacted with the Police more often, the Police would get to know them. It’s very easy, you simply start with a smile and a nod of the head, say Hello as you pass, a slight fist bump and thank them, ask how they are doing, you would be surprised how far that goes and how it could state a conversation. Get to KNOW the Officers in your Community.
@ D T = “Whether it was legal or not?” ………. REALLY? If it was “Legal” (Justified) then he is a “Defender” but, if it wasn’t legal (Justified) then he is a Killer.
The game being played here by our blue stained “leaders” is to increase our property taxes to supposedly increase police funding. All the while they hand-cuff LEO’s with a corrupt State Attorney who skirts the line of catch and release and micro manage our officers to the point they are reluctant to do anything. Who can blame them. They also promote increased violence and crime by failing to address the out-of-control vagrancy and homelessness, just like every other blue stained garbage city. Homelessness will come to a complete stop with a simple solution. Tell our hobos you have three choices, get the help you need from available resources we have, or get out of our town/county, OR be arrested. Problem solved. It worked for the City of Coronado in the blue stained garbage heap of Commiefornia.
The Marxist trash that addressed the city commission are correct in one thing and only one thing. We. Do. Not. Need. Increased taxes for TPD. There is plenty of money in the miserable overspent budget of this blue trash city to divert to TPD. Until the mentally ill blue stained voters of Leon County start feeling real pain, they will never wake up from their drug induced trance of constantly voting blue. I for one support cutting the TPD budget drastically if and only if, we can get open carry passed by the Florida legislature. Then I will automatically become a first responder.
Lawrence Revell did kill someone. Whatever you think of his killing, he did kill someone. Whether it was legal or not, it is accurate to say that Revell is a killer. He’s killed at least one person that we know about.
Better funding of police has been needed for decades, but that isn’t the answer. Not when it is the “justice” system that does not punish the guilty and would rather backstab law enforcement and label them as the problem. The problem is exemplified by Matlow and his ilk that seem to want total freedom for the criminal segment without responsibility. Give them more and magically it will be alright. Obviously free housing, free food, free phone, etc. aren’t enough. They need free from repercussion, unlimited ability to terrorize as well. Then everything will be alright.
The officers I have spoken to have expressed frustration and disbelief at what they face on the street and from city hall. If they act, they could be crucified, and if they don’t innocent citizens suffer. They work for a paltry salary while Matlow, et al, gets paid like a king to pontificate how law enforcement causes problems!
Our infrastructure is crumbling but there is ample money for “affordable housing” projects,
SoMo Walls, and making the high crime areas look nicer than anything else without addressing the crime.
The criminal element no longer fears the establishment. They have no reason to. Our blue city will get worse. It has become a battlefield and the insane are in charge. They blame law enforcement while law enforcement is doing its best to protect them.
There is part of me that wants law enforcement ended so these people have a wake up call, but I realize the mindset of these people is that they want to be victims to atone for their self imposed guilt.
So… if I have this right, and I believe that I do…
The “Anti-LEO” folks think the rampant violent crime in Tallahassee can be solved by giving criminals free housing, free food, and free healthcare. If I’m not mistaken, I believe all of that comes with a prison sentence… so, we agree; More LEOs and more prisons is the answer.
Remember the progressively-Marxist Democrat cry: “Always More; Never Enough”
Did that cac person actually complain about fear of police, overfunding and then use armed thugs running down the street as an example to fund them less?
“Anti-Law Enforcement Group”, government handout dependent/welfare loving people, criminals and Democrats are all one in the same.
The negative comments are spoken just like you would expect criminals or families of criminals to say.
We have exhausted Program after Program to no end, they all failed and the recent ones are not making a difference either. It is time to get a new DA and possibly new Judges that will give Longer Jail and Prison sentences. It is time to say ENOUGH, deal with Crime the way it needs to be, with MORE TIME given.
This was a meeting of dumb and dumber.