On Wednesday, May 29, the Capital Tiger Bay Club hosted a Leon County “State of Public Safety” panel
featuring Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell, Sheriff Walt McNeil, Public Defender Jessica Yeary and State Attorney Jack Campbell. Each panelist was asked to grade Tallahassee/Leon County’s public safety. Each leader graded the city’s public safety an A except for Jessica Yeary who graded the Capital City a B.
At luncheon, the panelists addressed issues such as drugs, crime, and community trust while giving an update on public safety
On the topic of drugs, Revell and McNeil both agreed that marijuana and fentanyl are the most dangerous. Revell noted that marijuana has long been a major driver of violent crime in the community, therefore increasing peril on the streets. But fentanyl’s lethality is far more alarming and will soon be a very real issue in Tallahassee. In agreement with Revell, McNeil noted that marijuana is behind many of the crimes his team deals with on a day-to-day basis and stated his “greatest fear in terms of drugs is fentanyl”.
However, Yeary disagreed that drugs are the main problem behind the issues our community faces. Yeary said, “If we don’t start acknowledging the generational cycle and how people come to this situation, we’re going to be right back here talking about the same issue.”
While discussing community trust, Revell said that over the past 4 to 5 years the community’s relationship with the Tallahassee Police Department has gotten “much, much better”. And McNeil commented the Leon County Sheriff’s Office has worked hard to build trust with the Leon County community.
However, Yeary and Campbell noted issues related to trust remain. Campbell said that these days people are more hesitant to talk about crime in the community stating, “I hate it, the fact that I’m solving more crimes by electronic eyes than people.” He continued, “We are working hard trying to get in the communities to work on those relationships.”
Capital City Leaders Address Public Safety Issues at Tiger Bay added by Staff on
View all posts by Staff →
A & B? Really? C- at best. I love Tallahassee, Lived here for 57 Years. People don’t talk to the Cops because they are afraid of Retaliation. Lets face it, the Criminals are not getting enough time behind Bars. The DA’s, ADA’s, Prosecuting Attorney’s and Judges need to step it up and go for LONGER Sentences and stop with the Plea Deals. ALL of the Charges that were changed from Felonies to Misdemeanor’s need to be changed back and several more Misdemeanor’s should be changed to Felonies.
Willie Meggs gave himself an A+ too like Larry and Jack Campbell. Meanwhile PBA backed Scott Maddox was robbing the place blind