A recent Pine Hills Town Hall at The Kingdom Church prioritized community ideas, accomplishing the goal to leave with ideas from residents that would make them safer in their community.
According to organizers, those prioritized ideas are:
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To establish Pine Hills as a municipality. Moliere Dimache was named as the contact for more information on the development of that idea. -
To create a safety alert system: The system will alert the community when there is activity that threatens Pine Hills residents. Quinten Simmons-Johnson was named as contact for more information.
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To establish a research initiative in partnership with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO). Rhetta Peoples will be the contact for more on this proposal.
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Excessive force
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Racial profiling
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Civil rights violations
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Police misconduct and corruption
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Benign neglect
In April of 2024, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 601 which took away the little power past and previous review boards held. However, this does not stop research, nonprofits and advocacy groups from working with or without law enforcement, including Orange County Sheriff John Mina.
“Our proposal offers more transparency, accountability and efficiency to law enforcement for not only Pine Hills but the overall county,” the group said about the proposed research initiative. “It is not a proposal for OCSO to own this research initiative as it would with a review or advisory board. Instead, we want to propose it to the Sheriff with the initial intent of working in partnership with OCSO. Establishing a partnership with law enforcement, rather than without, helps to minimize any erosion of public trust in law enforcement in Orange County. It also builds credibility between law enforcement and the community. The proposal includes independent investigations, policy recommendations, and community engagement for the research.”
Coming out of the Pine Hills Town Hall, the research initiative will operate independently of law enforcement agencies and will benefit both community and the agency by:
- Providing constructive oversight and reform
- Helping to implement research-based policing strategies
- Gaining access to law enforcement data for analysis
- Fostering mutual respect which may lessen defensive pushback
- Offering proactive solutions which can cut down on lawsuits and public crises
The initiative will seek to do its own investigations and discuss any differences in each of the investigations.
To provide public transparency, the initiative would publish quarterly public reports summarizing investigations, findings, and recommendations, host annual community hearings where residents can voice concerns and provide feedback on law enforcement performance.
The local town hall emphasized that cooperation also allows the community and law enforcement to better understand certain questionable situations before they become escalated. It may also be less costly for the community to have access to public records and direct access to law enforcement leaders.
“I, along with members of our community, strongly encourage law enforcement leaders to work collaboratively with the community to establish an initiative that is fair, effective, and beneficial to all,” Rhetta Peoples wrote as a follow up to the Pine Hills Town Hall. “I will be respectfully requesting a meeting with the sheriff, with community representatives in attendance, to discuss this plan. We understand the Sheriff may have a full schedule, so we will propose this meeting within a realistic and fair deadline.”
These are community-based ideas prioritized at the recent Pine Hills Town Hall. Everyone involved reminds the community that participation from elected and/or appointed leaders is essential to bringing them to fruition.
