Attorney General Bill McCollum Presents Anti-Crime Initiative to Local Leaders

Law enforcement officials, city and county commissioners and local community leaders recently gathered at an anti-crime symposium where Attorney General Bill McCollum and Senator Victor Crist, along with a team of experts, unveiled a pilot program to empower and organize communities to address issues which are often precursors to criminal activity. The symposium, Strategies for Safe and Sustainable Communities, was held in Orlando and brought together an impressive group of more than 150 community leaders from six surrounding counties.

“This is an excellent, comprehensive anti-crime program in Florida that has been created as a model that can be replicated and put into action in any neighborhood faced with the challenges of high crime,” said the Attorney General, whose office supported the pilot program.

The anti-crime initiative creates partnerships with community stakeholders including local residents, businesses, faith-based organizations, law enforcement, cultural groups, government and academic institutions to address criminal activity.

Attorney General McCollum stressed the importance of a holistic approach to addressing crime. In addition to the anti-crime initiative, he discussed Florida’s Gang Reduction Task Force developed by his office.  Led by Sheriff Don Eslinger of Seminole County, the Region 5 Task Force encompasses nine Central Florida counties.  The program combines resources to educate youth, make prevention/intervention more effective, improve law enforcement and address re-entry issues to reduce gang members and gang-related activities.

“Florida is the nation’s leader in bringing together a collective team of resources to fight crime at all levels,” said Attorney General McCollum.  “As leaders, we must get involved and support these anti-crime initiatives created to address issues taking place in your local communities.”

Presented by the University Area Community Development Corporation, Inc., the purpose of the symposium was grounded on the principle that the anti-crime pilot program model can be adapted and implemented in any neighborhood to address issues which often lead to criminal activity such as unemployment, poor housing conditions and limited access to social services.

The pilot program was implemented in the University Area of Tampa/Hillsborough County, an urban, economically distressed, culturally diverse neighborhood with the sixth highest crime rate in Florida. Research shows a decrease in the crime index from 2006 to 2007 of 380 crimes or about 10.4 percent.

One of the primary benefits, based on attendee feedback from the symposium, was the opportunity to network with the team of experts that developed and implemented the pilot program. Participants were guided through the methodology created to transform high crime communities into safe and sustainable neighborhoods and given the opportunity to ask specific questions at the close of the symposium.

“We believe the symposium addressed key issues that all Florida counties are facing in these challenging economic times and identified ways for community and government leaders to tap into resources and build partnerships creating a holistic approach to impact criminal activity,” said Julian Garcia, Jr., executive director, UACDC, whose office created the pilot program.

The symposium was presented by the UACDC in partnership with the Jim Walter Partnership Center at the University of South Florida and the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida with special assistance from the Florida Institutes of Government at the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida.

For more information regarding the anti-crime initiative, visit http://symposium.uacdconline.org.