Leon County vs City of Tallahassee

County weighs merger ^ | 05 April 2006 | David C. Osborne

[davidosborne]

IMHO, we really need to let the PEOPLE vote whether we want an ELECTED CONSTITUTIONAL SHERIFF, or an APPOINTED POLICE CHIEF... I personally fully support the concept of an Elected Constitutional Sheriff.. in any case LET THE PEOPLE VOTE !!

Please contact the Tallahassee City Commissioners and ask them to LET US VOTE !!

http://www.talgov.com/gov/commission.cfm

City Hall
300 South Adams Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301
850-891-0000

P.S. To my fellow freepers, I know this is a "local" issue but we can sure use your help.. the strongest "group" we are up against is the Police Union http://www.flpba.org Florida Police Benevolent Association PBA)... I don't generally like to oppose my fellow law enforcement officers, however IMHO, they are just wrong on this issue.....

I appreciate any help and/or comments on this issue...

[davidosborne]

Passing it on.. Request for assistance... Thanks..

[davidosborne]

Passing it on.. Request for assistance... Thanks..

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[davidosborne]

Leon County vs City of Tallahassee

........OR......

[davidosborne]

Leon County vs City of Tallahassee

........OR......

........ OR ............

[bwteim]

"City commissioners - who so far have expressed no desire to merge the agencies ....."

And as long as your city commissioners *earn* $34,000 a year in that *grueling* job they will continue to stall efforts.

[ClaireSolt]

Frankly, I don't like either one. The elected sherrif is a political football, popular as long as he doesn't arrest too many people. The unionized police are no longer public servants. They don't have to be. They have their contracts.

[William Terrell]

I thought each county in a state is supposed to have an elected sheriff, and that sheriff is number 2 behind the governor in executive authority. This don't apply to you Florida guys?

[middie]

The Sheriff is a constitutional officer who assigned duties and limitations by statute. He is the supreme law enforcement officer within a speciific territorial jurisdiction.

[davidosborne]

You are correct.. however the reality in this situation is the continued annexing of "unincorporated" areas into the "city limits"... while I am not opposed to anexation it does present the problem of who provides law enforcement services to the city... the Police Department or the Sheriff... or in out case BOTH.. Our Sheriff has made it very clear that residents INSIDE city limits may request law enforcement services from their ELECTED head of Law Enforcement...

[davidosborne]

yes, but what happens when the city Police Chief "asks" the Sheriff to stay out of the city? The Sheriff simply reminds the Police Chief that "YOUR CITY is in MY COUNTY".....etc...etc.

[davidosborne]

So what do you suggest?

[middie]

Under Florida law the Sheriff is correct. A city may contract with the sheriff's department to provide law enforcement inside the city's statutory corporate limts. Moreove, the sheriif's dept. can enforce state law wherever it applies, including inside a city's limits. There usually exists what's known as an inter-agency agreement between and among the law enforcement agencies in any given metropolitan area and with other depts. that make it logical to have such an agreement.

Annexation in Florida is an entirely different area of law. Generally, annexation is tested by objectors in court based upon the reasonableness of the proposed act. Example, some cities in the past have tried to annex only along a busy street but not the areas behind, yet physically adjancent, to the property fronting the road. The reason? To benefit from the enhanced tax base of the businesses but not having to face the requirement to provide city services to the other areas (fire, police, water, drainage, etc). It's called ''strip annexation'' and the courts disallow it.

Someone is certain to test in court the act you complain of. In the end, it's a matter for the court system to resolve pursuant to statutory application and interpretation. Because, after all, and as much as folks who don't understand the purpose of the judicial system hate courts making interpretive decisions, that's what courts are supposed to do.

[ClaireSolt]

Maybe, if I moved out of the blue state, it would be clear.

[davidosborne]

Your analysis is missing a key ingredient in the case of Leon County vs. City of Tallahassee...

Tallahassee city limits has continued to expand at a rapid pace to the point where the City Police Department has grown to point that we have ended up with TWO "comepteing" Law Enforcement Agencies, in other words TWO traffic units, TWO SWAT teams, TWO Dispatch Centers etc.. etc... Our Sheriff continues to serve the people of Leon County whether they live INSIDE or OUTSIDE of City Limits.. Citizens INSIDE the CITY who wish to recieve service from Sheriff's Office simply dial (850) 922-3300 instead of 911....

to futher complicate the situation the CITY dispatches for the POLICE DEPARTMENT and FIRE DEPARTMENT, and the COUNTY dispatches for the SHERIFF and EMS... which is a whole other issue, that will be resolved under consolidation.. the question is should the VOTERS have choice whether they want an ELECTED Sheriff or an APPOINTED Police Chief.... and I say YES

[middie]

OK

[davidosborne]

Do you have any opinion on this issue as you now understand it..

[Coleus]

In NJ we have double and triple layers of law enforcement, one of the reasons why we have such high taxes.

Most towns, except the very small ones, have an appointed police chief while every county has an elected county sheriff (the sheriff's position is a nj constitutional position and is NOT required to show up for work). And each county has a prosecutors detective force. And we also have a NJ Transit police dept. to patrol all the rails and train stations. We also have a Department of Human Services Police Dept. which, I think, guards the mental and other institutions in the state. Some counties, like Bergen County, has a 3rd layer, a county police force in addition to the individual police departments and county sheriff's department.

Oh, and we also have the Port Authority police dept. one of the highest paid in the nation. They have police powers in both NY and NJ and guard the airports, G. Washington Bridge, Lincoln and Holland tunnels and the sea ports. And I'm sure we have more than that. And guess what? we still can't walk the streets in certain cities, gangs all over the place, car thefts are through the roof, etc.