TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- Walt McNeil, a former Tallahassee police chief is hoping to be the next sheriff of Leon County.
He spoke to the media Thursday, vowing to crack down on crime in the county.
He served as TPD's chief from 1997 to 2007 and later as secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections.
McNeil, running as a Democrat, says he plans to lower the violent crime rate and reform the Consolidated Dispatch Agency.
He also says the community has lost confidence in law enforcement in general, after the headlines from places like Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore.
Mcneil says he plans to repair that relationship in Leon County.
"We're going to restore that trust," he said. "We are going to work with our citizens. We're going to make sure that our law enforcement officers police our community from a constitutional perspective."
McNeil has been endorsed by the Big Bend chapter of the Florida Police Benevolent Association.
Tommy Mills, a major at the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office has also filed to run, along with Charlie Strickland, a 24-year veteran with the Leon County Sheriff's Office.
The current Leon County Sheriff Mike Wood is also running.
