- The study involved 109,000 interactions between people and the sheriff's office within a year.
- Study data shows that more than 97-percent of citizen interactions were characterized as calm and cooperative.
- Watch the video to learn more about how this initiative works, and how neighbors are reacting to it.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
What does a typical interaction between neighbors and law enforcement look like? And how often do situations de-escalate?
I’m Terry Gilliam your Southwest Tallahassee neighborhood reporter.
I asked the Leon County Sheriff’s Office about their new report... which tracked their encounters with neighbors over the past year.
“We all need to be together. We need them and they help us.”
Ora Coleman lives on the Southside of Tallahassee.
She believes people in her community should be able to trust law enforcement.
Now, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office is trying to build that trust.
They started an initiative called the De-escalation Tracking Project... tracking interactions with neighbors and officers.
The study was commissioned by Sheriff Walt McNeil.
And Friday... His office released their results.
The project documented over 109,000 citizen interactions with LCSO deputies.
And the report says more than 97-percent of citizen interactions were characterized as calm and cooperative.
Only 2 percent of interactions were classified as agitated or uncooperative... with the majority of those ending with successful de-escalation.
And only 1 percent of incidents resulted in an arrest.
Coleman says this report is a good sign for her community.
“It builds up a morale between three neighbors and officers.”
Sheriff McNeil tells me this report allows his office to be more transparent with the community.
“We do a great deal of service to our community. In terms of those interactions, we never measured that, only the calls for service. But from the perspective of the citizens, they’d like to know how effective we are.”
He also says the results highlight the good work his deputies do every day.
“It allows our deputies to see that their jobs are appreciated, and it sends a message to the community that you got a pretty good sheriff’s office. They can be assured that our deputies are going to be professional.”
Professionalism, trust, and safety... Words Coleman hopes neighbors will remember... When they think about Leon County's law enforcement.
“There’s people that need to know that our officers are there for us.”
You can read the full 2023-2024 de-escalation report for yourself right now. I’ll include a link to it in this story at WTXL.com. In Southwest Tallahassee, Terry Gilliam, ABC27.
