[tabi] An update on my interaction with Chief DeLeo
- From: "Easy Talk" <Easytalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 12:15:32 -0500
On Friday, January 24th
, shortly after 8:00 a. m., I received a call from Chief DeLeo in response to an
email I'd sent earlier in the week. He was very concerned that he'd never
received
my phone messages and that no one was able to provide me with his contact
information.
It appears that Chief DeLeo does have an open-door policy. In fact, there was an
article on the WCTV website that addressed this issue and is pasted below.
Chief DeLeo appears to be
a very intelligent individual and very self-confident in his actions and
decisions.
Our conversation lasted over 25 minutes and I felt he was definitely listening
to
what I was saying.
During the first five minutes of our conversation, we spoke about my particular
situation
in the way I was treated by Officer Thompson. I expressed to him that I didn't
believe
it was an officer's right to sway a report that, in my opinion, had an outcome
on
the trial not to mention the fact that the officer didn't show up. At
approximately
2:40 that same day, I received a call from Officer Thompson who apologized for
not
showing up for the hearing. She gave the excuse that she had entered the wrong
date
on her calendar. I told Officer Thompson that unfortunately, there was nothing
to
be done about my situation now, but asked her to promise me that if while she is
out on patrol when she sees a vehicle turn right on red and not yielding to the
pedestrian
as the law instructs, would she please either issue a warning or write a ticket.
She responded that she would do her best. I feel confident that Chief DeLeo will
look into the situation further and take corrective actions with this officer.
I then turned the conversation to my main purpose for wanting to talk to the
Chief,
which is the vehicle/pedestrian safety issue in Tallahassee/Leon County. Chief
DeLeo
made it very clear that some of the things he was going to say, I would probably
not like but he was not going to lie and say he could or would do something that
he could not do. The two issues that we discussed were the Vehicle/Pedestrian
Safety
issue and White Cane Safety law enforcement by the police department.
Unfortunately,
the problem is that the police department does not have the manpower or money to
assign officers to monitor intersections for violations of drivers who fail to
yield
to pedestrians. This is similar to the situation that we have with Dial-A-Ride
and
the added burden because of decentralization of the bus system. I tried to offer
several suggestions for solutions to this problem.
My first offered solution was to make attempts to get the penalty for failure to
yield to pedestrians and the White Cane Safety law increased. It was my thinking
that if we could get the legislature to do this, the additional revenue could be
distributed directly to the police departments to fund additional officers to
address
the violations. Chief DeLeo explained that the police department only receives
from
$2 - $5 of the actual fine, and if it is thrown out of court, they don't receive
anything. In most cases, when the fines are increased, none of the additional
funds
actually go to the police department. There are several agencies that revenues
from
fines are distributed among.
I next suggested that we get a group of citizens to go before the City
Commission
and request 4 - 6 additional police officers be hired to handle
vehicle/pedestrian
violations. Chief DeLeo said that would not be enough officers to handle the
situation.
He gave an example of the noise ordinance as a point of information. The City
Commission
is currently dealing with the noise ordinance that if passed, will place a large
burden on the police department. For example, if they had 700 additional calls
it
would be an enormous expense to the city in man-hours and equipment.
It didn't seem like I was making much progress, so I approached the possibility
of
a special event to promote public awareness and education. I explained to Chief
DeLeo
that in the past, the Florida Council of the Blind has attempted to get police
officers
involved on more than one occasion, on national White Cane Day to stop violators
and issue either warnings or tickets. I explained that the police department was
unwilling to do this. He immediately told me that basically, that was then and
this
is now. He indicated that any organization who wants to have a special event may
send him a letter of request one month prior to the event and the police
department
will be willing to work with that organization by sending press releases to the
media,
and in our situation, coordinate our efforts with the FSU police department.
Since
we were talking the white Cane law at the time, I explained to him that there
was
a national White Cane day (October 15
th
), a long way from now.
We then talked about his dealing with the vehicle/pedestrian safety issue. Here
again,
he is willing to assist us with a special event. I did get the impression that a
request from a particular organization or citizens group would receive more
action
than if it was something I individually wanted to do. It is my recommendation
that
we form a group of citizens and any other organizations that would support this
cause
and take Chief DeLeo at his word.
At some point during the conversation, in trying to help him understand my
point,
I said, unless you've been hit by a vehicle and haven't had to deal with the
resulting
trauma, you can't understand. He responded that he had, in fact been hit by a
vehicle.
I think at this point, we need to organize to determine what we want to
accomplish,
and who will take the initiative to get the ball rolling. I welcome responses
and
suggestions and most of all, I welcome advocates who will be willing to follow
through
and stand up for our basic right to walk the streets of Tallahassee/Leon County
safely.
Robert
January 24, 2014
Tallahassee's new police chief is promising an open door to anyone who wants to
suggest
ways to make the police department better.
Michael DeLeo will hit the four week mark as chief on Monday.
We sat down with him today for a one on one interview.
Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo has been on more than a half dozen ride
alongs
already trying to find out what officers face on any given night in the capital
city
and what they need.
"I got feedback and information from the officers who are actually going out and
doing their job everyday," DeLeo said.
"By not having grown up within the Tallahassee Police Department, I'm more
receptive
to change - I'm open to it," DeLeo said. "Well this is how we're doing it and we
like to do it this way' Okay well tell me how it's better...why are we doing it
this
way? How is it better? because I'm not going 'Well that's how I've always done
it."
DeLeo, a 19 year veteran of the Plantation Police department, was sworn in
December
30th.
He now leads a department that has come under fire in the past year for its use
of
force in the DUI arrest of Christina West, shots fired on an officer outside the
city limits, and its handling of the sexual battery investigation of Jameis
Winston.
"Those were things that were done before. I was certainly aware of them, read
newspaper
articles about them, but I haven't sat down and read the case files," DeLeo
said.
DeLeo says he cannot discuss the Christina West case because litigation is
pending.
"As far as reading of the actual documents of the other cases, that''s going to
be
as time goes on. I met with Mr. Meggs. I've certainly listened to him and
discussed
and heard his concerns of what he feels would be better. I've heard from Sheriff
Campbell and had similar discussions with him. I've been working with the
community.
You can only get so much from documents. The main thing is understanding and
working
with people."
DeLeo says he is still gathering information about the department and the
community.
"Most of the people I've met have been supportive of TPD and the good
experiences
they've had, but just like any other organization, we're not perfect and there
are
always ways to get better. That's my main focus," he said.
DeLeo has met with the sheriff and state attorney and plans to meet with all of
the
city commissioners too.
He has not made any major changes yet but says his vision is to raise the bar
from
what officers can do to what officers should do.
"We should make our decisions and our actions should be taken based on our
values,
and we should be focused on what we should be doing, as opposed to what we can
do,'
DeLeo said.
"In times of crisis," DeLeo said, "I'll be out front and be responsible for
answering
questions and be accountable to the public."
The chief's family - his wife and two young sons - will join him in Tallahassee
after
the school year is up.
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