At annual retreat, Tallahassee mayor questions police chief about violent crime
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey questioned the city police's efforts on crime prevention, telling Police Chief Lawrence Revell that the department needs to “double down on the front end.”
The remark came at this year’s City Commission retreat, held in the Parkview Ballroom at Cascades Park.
"Gunshot detection is great, cameras are great, but that’s after it’s already been shot," Dailey said.
The retreat focused on Tallahassee’s five-year strategic plan for 2020-2024, but also covered public safety and future construction projects.
Dailey's comments were an unusual break in the comity and even deference he shows to Revell and the Police Department's work. City commissioners spent about 45 minutes discussing Tallahassee’s increasing violent crimes at the retreat.
There were 27 homicides in 2023; homicides last year increased 29% from 2022, which saw 21 murders. The day of the retreat, three men were shot and killed in two unrelated incidents, one labeled a domestic-related shooting and another that claimed the lives of teenage brothers.
Dailey also asked for an update on the city’s "investments" into crime prevention measures, like the Council on the Status of Men and Boys and the additional nearly $10 million to TPD, funded through last year's property tax increase.
Revell touted TPD’s numbers and said the department was able to remove 181 “violent criminals” and 649 guns from the streets. He also informed the commission about drug seizures and the new public safety cameras throughout the city.
The clearance rate for murders has gone from 81% in 2021 to 86% in 2022, then dipped to 76% last year, records show.
But Revell explained that domestic violence and deaths involving children's access to firearms pushed the violent crime rate higher in 2023.
New projects in the new year
In other business at the retreat, the Tallahassee City Commission unveiled concept photos of the new Southside Transit Center, which is expected to begin construction at the end of the year.
“(The center) is going to be something that really shines a star for the south side. They’re going to have a transit center like we haven’t seen anywhere in Tallahassee,” said Devan Leavins, special projects administrator for the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department.
All designs and permits have been submitted, added Assistant City Manager Wayne Tedder. The two-story center will have community meeting and office spaces on the second floor on top of an operator break room, a sales room, public bathrooms and Wi-Fi.
"What an incredible structure to start the conversation of how these projects are going to redevelop the area and also provide good service to our citizens," Tedder told the commissioners.
The city also plans to complete Phase 1 of the Southside Triangle septic to sewer project, which will extend sewer access to several hundred homes and businesses on the south side by July 2025.
Other construction projects in the works include the international processing facility at the Tallahassee International Airport, which the city plans to complete at the end of the year.
The new TPD headquarters at the old Northwood Mall, a fire station at Lake Bradford and a senior center along Welaunee Boulevard are all planned to be completed in 2025.
More: Residents near site of new Tallahassee Police HQ concerned over planned tree removal
Arianna Otero is the City Solutions Reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com or on Twitter/X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Dailey questions Revell on violent crime rate at annual city retreat
