Thought's on the Gun Violence Reduction Task Force Meeting

Are guns the problem?  Or--is it crime, drugs, societal breakdown, breakdown of the family, un-diagnosed mental health issues, rank social dysfunction, and a culture of violence in some pockets of the community that leads to  and manifests itself as the "gun-violence" we've seen in Escambia County?

Yesterday evening from 5:30-7:00 PM Sheriff Chip Simmons hosted the final Brownsville Gun Violence Reduction Task Force Meeting at the Brownsville Community Center.

About 100 citizens attended, as well as locally elected and appointed officials to include three county commissioners (myself included), the county administrator, a city councilman, our state senator, one of our two state representatives, multiple representatives from the school board- to include the Superintendent and one school board member- as well as others associated with the court system and the media.

The objective:  To hear public input and for each stakeholder to report in on the specifics of what his/her organization has done and is doing to improve safety in the Brownsville community.

My counterpart, Commissioner Lumon May, kicked the discussion off by listing a huge amount of projects and initiatives the county had undertaken in Brownsville.  Stormwater infrastructure, sidewalks, community centers, sports leagues (tennis and basketball) a new library in Brownsville, the youth employment program, the construction of affordable homes, and a host of other programs.

Similarly-the newly appointed interim superintendent of schools discussed some initiatives he will be bringing back, to include peer-to peer mentoring and conflict resolution strategies.  He also reported that he will be a partner to the Sheriff in creating a safe atmosphere in schools.

Interestingly--a majority of public speakers chastised the sheriff and law enforcement in particular--saying they felt "Brownsville was being over policed" and multiple speakers pushed back on the Sheriff for saying the violence and murders thus far this year has been chiefly "black on black."   After a number of speakers expressed dismay that the sheriff would use this term--he (Sheriff Simmons) gave the stark facts.  "There have been thirteen murders in the county this year.  All thirteen perpetrators were black, as were 11 of the 13 victims.  These are the facts and I am not going to hide this" he stated to the room which was silent upon hearing this enlightening, factual statistic.

I spoke and thanked the stat for funding mental health facilities in the community and I focused on mental health (undiagnosed, untreated) as a big factor in the violence we see.  I also discussed some of the economic development initiatives the county has undertaken to create more jobs here.  Finally, I ended my comments explaining how the county is approving new residential development so that the extra supply will help to ease the housing affordability issue we are seeing area wide.

The meeting ended on a note of optimism with several speakers giving praise for the group's efforts and work.  One young man in particular keyed into what I said about mental health shortcomings in the community leading to the violence.  He gave his own story-- a violent recovering addict who is changing and celebrating 8 years of sobriety while also giving back and mentoring folks in the community where he now lives (Jacksonville).  His story was compelling.

We will have more of these sorts of roundtables going forward.  Potential next topics were enunciated by the Sheriff:

Fentanyl crisis

The Clergy's role in community issues

Gentrification

School issues

So look for community action and meetings to come on these topics.