TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Tallahassee commissioners voted unanimously to devote $140,000 towards the creation of the Commission on the Status of Men and Boys.
The CSMB is a direct response to the Leon County Sheriff's Office's 'Anatomy of a Homicide'.
That report highlights five years worth of crime and the factors that led to those events with Leon/
Last week, the county approved a plan to go with Sheriff Walt McNeil's vision for the commission.
His vision will focus on intervention and programs that will help reduce crime.
The overall price tag for the sheriffs recommendation is $350,000 annually.
Sheriff McNeil says his goal is to get multiple partners; primarily the city, county, Leon County Schools, LCSO, and TPD to help foot the bill of the organization.
Sheriff McNeil says it's a price tag worth investing in.
"To be successful, these steps must be taken collaboratively. I can't put enough emphasis on that word. By the community at large, not solely. I've said time and time again, this is not the Leon County Sheriff's Office initiative. This is the entire communities initiative," he said.
Commissioners like Dianne Williams-Cox did express concern that the Commission will step on the toes of city-led TEMPO; which targets 16-24 year-olds looking to turn their lives around.
Sheriff McNeil says the CSMB would cater to a wider range of people with the community.
Several other public comments expressed a desire to bring single mothers to the forefront of the conversation.
The Commission will return to the Leon County Commission dais in early March.
