LEON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) — Leaders in Leon County took the next step toward stopping homicides from happening in our community on Tuesday night.
The Leon County Board of County Commissioners voted to move forward with a plan on bringing together the county, City of Tallahassee, the sheriff's office and Leon County School Board to create a council in an effort to prevent violent crimes in the area.
The vote follows a major report on homicides in Leon County released just weeks ago by the sheriff's office.
Here were some of the findings:
- 141 homicides happened from 2015 to 2020 in Tallahassee and Leon County.
- The 32304 zip code was most heavily affected.
- The majority of both victims and offenders were young black males.
Leon County Sherriff Walt McNeil spoke strongly about the project in front of the commissioners.
"We have for the last six years been trying to figure out how can we stop the violence in our community," said McNeil.
The sheriff asked leaders to create a community group to track the status of men and boys. The group would report to county and city leaders to make sure resources are being used to prevent problems that lead to violent crimes in the first place.
The goal is to have a plan together for review by February at the latest.
