More than 200 participants from law enforcement agencies, community organizations, private sector and government agencies attended the 5th Sheriff’s Office Community Crime Summit in Orlando earlier this week.
Led by Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings, agenda items included, up-to-date crime statistics and trends, human trafficking, missing and exploited children and drug trafficking.
Major Nancy Brown informed, in 2014, to date, while overall crime in Orange County has declined by 2.6% over the same period compared with 2013, murders, forcible sex crimes and robberies have increased, resulting in a Violent Crime Index of 9 percent.
Demings said the increase in homicides in 2014 is being fueled by drug trafficking and that tackling violent crime required the entire community coming together.
“Engaging and collaborating with the community will lead to a reversal in the number of violent crimes,” he said. “And as a result, we can change the numbers and make our community safer.”
Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation Director Larry Zwieg said, human trafficking, based on tips, is on the increase with Florida ranking number three in the nation. State-wide, Orange County ranks #3 in terms of human trafficking; Miami-Dade grabs the number one spot.
Keynote speaker Monte Stiles, who has an extensive career as a state and federal prosecutor, offered the summit a comprehensive presentation on the ills of drugs. In that context, Stiles discussed Washington and Colorado, the only two states that allow the sale of recreational marijuana to adults. He also talked about the “massive fraud and abuse” taking place in California where the use of medical marijuana has been approved.
Stiles said education is key to helping people appreciate the dangers from drugs like pot, as happened with ‘designated driver,’ ‘recycling’ and ‘seat belt’ campaigns.
Another topic discussed was ‘missing persons and exploited children’ and conference participants heard from Hilary Sessions, a Gainesville resident, whose 20-year-old daughter, Tiffany, has been missing since February 1989. The case has been thoroughly investigated over the past 24 years and DNA has linked Paul Rowles, now deceased, to at least two other missing persons who disappeared under similar circumstances. Investigators believe that Rowles is Tiffany’s killer.
“My hope is that you are inspired to re-engage with your community,” said Demings in closing out the Summit. “If law enforcement is the only ones in the game, we won’t have the success we need. When we engage the community we are much stronger.”
