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Leon County
Board of County Commissioners Agenda Item#25 September 17, 2024 |
| To: | Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board |
| From: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
| Title: | Crime Analysis for 32304 and West Pensacola Street |
| Review and Approval: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
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Department/Division Review and Approval: |
Ken Morris, Assistant County Administrator Shington Lamy, Assistant County Administrator Nawfal Ezzagaghi, Assistant County Administrator |
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Lead Staff/ Project Team: |
Abigail G. Thomas, Director, Office of Human Services and Community Partnerships Artie White, Director, Planning, Land Management & Community Enhancement (PLACE) |
Statement of Issue:
As requested by the Board, this item provides an analysis of all crimes reported in Leon County with a focus on the 32304 zip code area as well as solutions to combat crimes and nuisance activities on West Pensacola Street. This item details ongoing efforts to combat crime and address nuisance activities through policy, stakeholder engagement, reducing homelessness, and promoting economic growth.
Fiscal Impact:
This item has no fiscal impact.
Staff Recommendation:
Option #1: Accept the report on the Crime Analysis for 32304 and West Pensacola Street.
Report and Discussion
Background:
As requested by the Board, this item provides an analysis on all crimes reported in Leon County with a focus on the 32304 zip code area as well as solutions to combat crimes and nuisance activities on West Pensacola Street. This item details ongoing efforts to combat crime and address nuisance activities through policy, stakeholder engagement, reducing homelessness, and promoting economic growth. As presented in the item, the County regularly coordinates with the City of Tallahassee (City), Leon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), homeless service providers, and neighborhood stakeholders on policy formation, civic engagement opportunities, crime and nuisance deterrence, and investment on West Pensacola Street.
On September 12, 2023, the Board directed staff to provide an agenda item and analysis on all crimes reported in Leon County with a focus on 32304 crime data, and to provide immediate solutions to combat crime and nuisance activity in the Pensacola Street area.
This report advances the following FY2022-FY2026 Strategic Initiative:
This particular Strategic Initiative aligns with the Board’s Quality of Life Strategic Priority:
As detailed in the Analysis section, crimes reported in Leon County increased 33% over the past five years (2019 – 2023). During this same period, crimes reported in the 32304 zip code area increased at a slightly lower rate of 29% (Attachment #1). At approximately 16 square miles, the 32304 zip code extends from portions of Frenchtown and Griffin Heights neighborhoods on the east to Lake Talquin State Forest and the Ochlocknee River on the west (Attachment #2). It includes Tallahassee State College (TSC) and West Pensacola Street and is adjacent to Florida State University (FSU). The 32304 zip code area has the largest population in Leon County with approximately 55,000 residents. A majority of those residents are between the ages of 18-34, indicating a significant concentration of college-aged students. This item provides information on the crime data, as well as the operational and tactical approach law enforcement (i.e., LCSO and the Tallahassee Police Department [TPD]) have implemented to combat crime within the 32304 zip code area and countywide.
West Pensacola Street is a state-owned and maintained road, located in 32304 and almost entirely within the City of Tallahassee (City) limit. It extends from Duval Street on the east to Blountstown Highway on the west. Pensacola Street is comprised of a mixture of higher education properties (i.e., FSU and TSC), residential neighborhoods, student rental housing, retail/restaurants, government-owned facilities, and two of the community’s largest emergency homeless shelters (i.e., Kearney Center and HOPE Community).
West Pensacola Street was sparsely developed during the first half of the 1900s, primarily consisting of Dale Mabry Field which served as a municipal airport in 1928 and became a U.S. Army Air Forces airfield during World War II. When the airfield was decommissioned in 1945, the airport reverted to a municipal airport and the barracks on the field became housing for male students attending the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida located at the Florida State College for Women. The latter part of the 1900s saw significant changes in the Pensacola Street area. By 1947, the Florida State College for Women became coeducational again (the Florida State University), Dale Mabry Field was closed, and in the 1960s, the primary location of Dale Mabry Field was redeveloped into Tallahassee Community College (now Tallahassee State College).
As these changes were occurring, the corridor between Tallahassee State College and Florida State University saw rapid growth and development. This included the development of several single-family neighborhoods, student-oriented apartments, commercial uses, industrial, and significant government institutional uses such as Leon County Schools, the Leon County Jail, City of Tallahassee Fleet Management and municipal services offices, Tallahassee Fire Department Training Facilities, and StarMetro offices.
Over the past several decades, as the local universities and college grew in size and enrollment, West Pensacola Street became more student oriented. Many homes in the single-family neighborhoods became student rental housing. Based on the U.S. Census, the tracts of Pensacola Street have an average median age of 23.8 years with 77% of the households made up of non-family households (members are not blood or legal relatives), signifying the impact of the student population in this area. The high level of college students on West Pensacola is further illustrated by the significantly low percentage of homeownership, median household income, and home values in the census tracts compared to the County’s average.
West Pensacola Street has experienced steady growth over the years in the number of not-for-profit organizations and human service providers such as Goodwill, Disc Village, and Big Bend AFTER Reentry Coalition, as well as services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. As previously mentioned, Pensacola Street includes two of the largest homeless shelters in Leon County; Kearney Center with a capacity of 375 beds which opened in 2014, and the HOPE Community family shelter with a capacity of 160 beds.
Portions of West Pensacola Street (from Stadium Drive to Ausley Road) continue to experience economic growth through the redevelopment of student housing and associated commercial development. However, other segments between Ausley Road and just west of Cactus Street, have experienced considerable decline and disinvestment with vacant properties and dilapidated buildings which often attract unsheltered homelessness as well as nuisance and criminal activities. In meetings with stakeholders described in the Analysis section, residents and businesses on West Pensacola Street regularly share concerns of nuisance activities such as loitering and litter within those segments that are impacting the overall quality of life and economic growth of the corridor.
As a result, Leon County has been active in coordinating and collaborating with stakeholders including the City, LCSO, and homeless service providers to engage residents and businesses on West Pensacola Street on solutions to better combat crime, reduce homelessness and nuisance activities, as well as spur economic growth and improve the infrastructure on the corridor. Over the past several years, many activities and initiatives have been undertaken and are ongoing through the County, joint County-City Department of PLACE, City/TPD, LCSO, the Big Bend Continuum of Care (CoC) and other partners which are further detailed in the Analysis section.
Analysis:
As requested by the Board, the following provides an analysis on all crimes reported in Leon County over the past five years (2019-2023) with a focus on the 32304 zip code (which includes West Pensacola Street) as well as efforts by law enforcement in coordination with partners, such as Leon County, to combat crime. However, it is important to note that during multiple meetings and engagement efforts, the concerns of residents and businesses on West Pensacola Street have focused primarily on nuisance activities such as loitering and panhandling rather than serious crime offenses (i.e., larceny, assault, etc.). As a result, as requested by the Board, the Analysis section subsequently presents ongoing collaborative efforts to reduce nuisance activities on West Pensacola Street through policy, stakeholder engagement, reducing homelessness, as well as economic growth and infrastructure improvement.
Crime Data and Efforts to Combat Crime
Crime Data
In coordination with LCSO, data on crime reported in Leon County between 2019 and 2023 was collected and evaluated for Leon County (countywide), and the 32304 zip code. As shown in Table #1, the number of crimes reported in Leon County has increased 33% over the past five years.
Table #1: Overall Reported Crimes in Leon County 2019 – 2023
|
Year |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Number of Reported Crimes |
17, 759 |
15, 765 |
15,410 |
19,369 |
23,559 |
During this same period, crimes reported in the 32304 zip code area increased at a lower rate of 29% with the second highest crime reported over the past five years per person (per capita) among the zip codes countywide (excluding the postal zip codes exclusive to FSU and Florida A&M University). As mentioned earlier, the 32304 zip code area has the largest population in Leon County with approximately 55,000 residents with a majority between the ages of 18-34 reflecting the significant concentration of college-aged students. Additionally, based on U.S. Census Data, the 32304 zip code also has the lowest percentage of homeownership, lowest median household income, and the census tracts with the highest poverty rates which include West Pensacola Street and are key indicators to a community’s exposure to crime.
Larceny and simple assault were the most reported crimes in 32304 each year during the five-year period analyzed; this was consistent with the most frequent crimes reported countywide. Larceny, which is the theft of personal property, can include crimes such as shoplifting, theft of property from a building, or theft of property from a vehicle. Simple assault, as defined in Florida Statutes, is the intentional and unlawful threat made by one person, by word or act, toward another person, to create a reasonable fear that violence or harm will occur. As reflected in the following section, although LCSO and TPD have the sole responsibility of enforcing the law when crime is reported, they regularly coordinate with key partners including the County and human service providers to prevent and combat crime countywide and on West Pensacola Street.
Combating Crime
Most of the 32304 zip code area (including West Pensacola Street) is within the City limits and therefore primarily patrolled by both LCSO and TPD. Due to its large population and high frequency of reported crime in neighborhoods within 32304, LCSO and TPD dedicate resources through patrol, technology, and special operations. In October 2023, TPD in coordination with LCSO increased proactive patrols with a more frequent presence on West Pensacola Street to enforce the law, deter crime, maintain public order and provide service to the community. In order to assist in this effort, the City also cleared out foliage and removed debris and litter on City-owned properties and rights-of-way on and adjacent to Pensacola Street (i.e., Municipal Way, Dupree Street, and Mabry Street) that had been populated with homeless encampments and criminal activities.
Technology is a critical component to LCSO and TPD’s effort to combat crime. In 2022, the County partnered with the City, LCSO, and FSU to invest in the construction of a $2.2 million Capital Region Real Time Crime Center (Crime Center) at FSU. The Crime Center was established to improve communication, intelligence sharing, and coordination among law enforcement agencies within Leon County. Law enforcement has been proactive in utilizing the Crime Center to respond to neighborhood and business concerns of crime on West Pensacola Street. In 2023, cameras and license plate readers were installed by TPD along West Pensacola Street that are connected to the Crime Center. The cameras provide data and intelligence to law enforcement effectuating a quicker and more accurate response to active crime and emergency activities.
Law enforcement also deploy special operations to rapidly respond to community concerns in specific areas. In October 2023, LCSO launched Operation Alliance to address concerns raised by residents and businesses regarding crime, nuisance, and homelessness on the Pensacola Street corridor. The first Operation Alliance was conducted for a three-month period (October – December 2023). LCSO developed a target area for Operation Alliance based on recent increases in the number of nuisance and crime calls. The target area was within the boundaries of Appleyard Drive, Jackson Bluff Road, Stadium Drive, West Tennessee Street, and West Pensacola Street.
A Sheriff’s deputy was assigned a zone which overlaps the Pensacola Street area and responds to calls for service. The assignment allowed the deputy on shift to pinpoint specific problem areas to receive greater resources including cameras, lighting, and patrol. The deputy on shift was also able to address frequent issues of property trespass and unauthorized solicitation. However, not all issues addressed were crime related. The Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST) deputies, which were established and funded by the Board at the request of the Sheriff, worked with the CoC and homeless service providers to engage individuals in homeless encampments and connect them with available services including shelter at the Kearney Center and bus tickets to return to their place of origin.
Based on months of engagement with residents and businesses, as well as analysis of reported calls and communications, in August 2024, LCSO launched Operation Alliance 2.0 for a one-week period in coordination with TPD. For Operation Alliance 2.0, LCSO increased patrol during the week to target areas along West Pensacola Street between Appleyard Drive to Chapel Drive which were frequently reported to have issues of illicit activities and trespassing. Operation Alliance 2.0 entailed patrol and operational support by LCSO and TPD from 7 a.m. until midnight daily performing arrests, traffic stops, community policing, and trespass warnings. Similar to the initial operation, the HOST Deputies were pivotal in engaging individuals experiencing homelessness and connecting with resources including shelter and bus tickets. With each Operation Alliance, LCSO utilized data gathered regarding arrests, citations, and engagement with the homeless population to improve patrol in coordination with TPD on West Pensacola Street to combat crime.
Efforts to Address Nuisance Activities on West Pensacola Street
As mentioned earlier, concerns shared by residents and business on West Pensacola Street have focused primarily on nuisance activities such as loitering and panhandling rather than serious crime offenses (i.e., larceny, assault, etc.). Leon County is proactively coordinating and collaborating with local partners to address nuisance activities on West Pensacola Street. Over the past several years, a number of activities and initiatives have been adopted and implemented to reduce nuisance activities on West Pensacola Street through policy, stakeholder engagement, reducing homelessness, as well as investments in economic growth and infrastructure improvements by the Board, the joint County and City Department of PLACE, City/TPD, LCSO, and CoC.
Policy Adoption and Implementation
The County has taken considerable action through policy to address nuisance activities in the community including West Pensacola Street. Common forms of nuisance activities include solicitation and panhandling. In 2023, the Board adopted a community campaign in partnership with the City and the CoC to reduce panhandling through the installation of signs on roadways. Signs were installed on 10 County and City maintained roadway frequented by panhandlers.
In February 2024, the Board adopted an Ordinance prohibiting unauthorized solicitation on private properties to address concerns of local businesses and provide law enforcement greater authority to reduce such activities. The County also developed a template of signs for businesses to install on their property which aligned with the Ordinance. The County coordinated with the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce to raise awareness of the Ordinance and distribute the sign template along areas that have a high concentration of panhandling and loitering including North Monroe Street, Downtown Tallahassee, and West Pensacola Street.
Additionally, in 2024, the Board, in partnership with the City, established and funded line-item funding for the emergency homeless shelters beginning in FY 2025 in coordination with the Children Services Council of Leon County. Line-item funding will provide the County, in partnership with the City and CoC, greater oversight of the emergency homeless shelters and tie funding to activities such as mitigating the impact of homeless clients on the West Pensacola Street corridor including trash, litter, and nuisance activities.
Engaging Stakeholders
Community engagement is an essential component to combating crime and reducing nuisance activities. Consistent with its long history of engaging citizens to tackle the most pressing issues of the day, the County has participated in meetings conducted by the City and LCSO with businesses and residents on West Pensacola Street. The meetings have also included the CoC and homeless service providers such as the Kearney Center. During these meetings, businesses and residents in the area have expressed concerns regarding crime, homelessness, the proliferation of litter, loitering, and panhandling that impact security, quality of life and the economic growth of the corridor. As presented later in this item, these meetings have been utilized to help formulate recommendations to address homeless encampments on West Pensacola Street and other parts of the community.
Building upon the meetings led by the City and LCSO, the CoC, which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the State of Florida as the regional planning and oversight organization for homelessness in Leon County, will hold quarterly meetings with neighborhoods and businesses on West Pensacola Street beginning in October with participation from the County, City, TPD, LCSO, and homeless service providers. These meetings will focus on continued efforts to identify solutions for addressing litter, loitering, homelessness and panhandling on West Pensacola Street. The engagement with residents is a critical component to the CoC’s development of corridor plans described later in this item to reduce homelessness. The continued engagement of residents and businesses through the meetings is also essential to responding to crime.
Reducing Homelessness
Nuisance activities are often associated and committed by individuals experiencing homelessness. Therefore, reducing homelessness is critical to coordinated efforts to address nuisance activities on West Pensacola Street. Over the past year, the County has partnered with the City, CoC, and homeless service providers to reduce homelessness and activities such as loitering on West Pensacola Street. In May 2023, the Board allocated $500,021 from one-time Federal Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Funding (Consistency Fund) to expand day services for unsheltered individuals to move people off of the street and to assist with services. Subsequently, the Kearney Center was awarded the funds and is engaging unsheltered homeless individuals in encampments to connect them with meals, showers, shelter, and case management, as well as access to healthcare, employment opportunities, legal services, and life-skill workshops provided within the facility and around the community. Additionally, since September 2023, utilizing the Consistency Funding provided by the County, the Kearney Center has deployed its Good Neighbor Program which focuses on reducing loitering and litter along the West Pensacola Street Corridor. As part of the Good Neighbor Program, the Kearney Center conducts daily patrols on West Pensacola Street engaging individuals that loiter businesses and vacant lots in the area to provide them shelter and access to day services.
Through the Good Neighbor Program, the Kearney Center also collects trash and debris around its property and Pensacola Street utilizing staff as well as client volunteers. The Kearney Center coordinates with the City on the removal of bulk items (i.e., sofas, shopping carts, etc.) that are found abandoned on public rights-of-way and properties along Pensacola Street. The Kearney Center also coordinated with LCSO to hold community street clean-up events in February, March, April, and July along the corridor, with more than 4,500 pounds of trash collected as part of those four events. Additional community street clean-ups are planned for the fall. As part of line-item funding awarded, the Kearney Center will be required to continue the Good Neighbor Program.
In January 2023, the Board adopted a strategic initiative to work with the City, CoC, and street outreach teams to develop the corridor plans for North Monroe Street, Downtown Tallahassee, and Pensacola Street. In January 2024, the Board amended the strategic initiative to include Highway 20 as part of the West Pensacola Street Corridor Plan. The CoC is leading the effort in the development of the corridor plans to better address issues of encampments, loitering, littering, panhandling, and other activities in areas with a high concentration of unsheltered homeless (homeless individuals and families that do not reside in the homeless shelters). As mentioned earlier, CoC will hold quarterly meetings with residents and businesses on North Monroe Street, Downtown Tallahassee, and Pensacola Street respectively.
Working with residents, businesses, and key stakeholders in the respective areas, the corridor plans will establish boundaries for a higher frequency of engagement with the homeless by street outreach teams, LCSO HOST deputies, and the City’s Crisis Unit, which provides law enforcement and mental health professional support for individuals actively experiencing a mental health crisis. The corridor plans will also identify policies, procedures, and initiatives that can be adopted and implemented by local government, law enforcement, homeless service providers, not-for-profit organizations, businesses, and residents to reduce homelessness in each specific area. The CoC’s Community Engagement Liaison is coordinating the meetings that will be held to develop the corridor plans. In 2023, the County and City jointly funded the Community Engagement Liaison which actively addresses concerns of residents, businesses, and neighborhoods, regarding homelessness and rapidly deploy resources in coordination with the HOST Deputies, Kearney Center, and street outreach teams that reduce homelessness. The CoC expects to complete the corridor plans in late 2024, which will subsequently be presented to the Board with potential recommendations for policy.
Supporting Economic Growth and Improving Infrastructure
Economic growth and infrastructure improvements on West Pensacola Street are also key components to combating crime and addressing nuisance activities. As mentioned earlier, segments of West Pensacola Street specifically between Ausley Road and just west of Cactus Street have experienced a decline and disinvestment with vacant properties and dilapidated buildings that often attract unsheltered homelessness as well as crime activity. Therefore, the County and City’s joint Department of PLACE, which is comprised of Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency (Blueprint), Planning, and the Office of Economic Vitality (OEV), have been instrumental in addressing improvements to the built environment and aging infrastructure, promoting job opportunities and supporting local area businesses.
West Pensacola Street is a state road managed and maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). In coordination with FDOT, to promote growth and opportunity for private investment, the Westside Student Gateway is a Blueprint project that will improve the segment of West Pensacola Street between Appleyard Drive and Capital Circle SW with road widening (two to four lanes), sidewalks, bike lanes, landscape medians, and stormwater facility. This total investment is totaled to be $40.9 million and is currently in the PD&E phase. More immediately, FDOT included $10.3 million for FY 2025 to resurface West Pensacola Street from the railroad overpass between Appleyard Drive and Capital Circle SE to Stadium Drive which will improve the conditions of the roadway.
In 2005, as part of the implementation of the Southside Action Plan (formerly the Southern Strategy Area) in the Tallahassee-Leon Comprehensive Plan, the West Pensacola Sector Plan was adopted by the County and City (Attachment # 3). The purpose of the Sector Plan is to address the various needs of stakeholders and residents along Pensacola Street with a focus on land use, quality of life, and transportation. Aligned with the Sector Plan, the Planning Department has been active in promoting and accommodating increased densities and intensities conducive to Pensacola Street through rezoning. There have been over 800 properties rezoned primarily from low-density, single-family residential zoning districts to University Transition, which allows higher density residential development (up to 50 units per acre) with commercial and retail uses. The Planning Department evaluates each rezoning to ensure stable, viable neighborhoods are not prematurely converted into higher density, student-oriented development.
In 2022, as part of rezoning, the City Commission approved an amendment to the Westwood Village PUD located on the corner of Pensacola Street and Ocala Road to allow a coffee shop (Starbucks) as well as a gas and convenience store at the request of the property owner. The gas and convenience store are anticipated to open in 2025. Additionally, the property owner has indicated that the following tenants have opened or are in the process of opening within the next year:
Through the DesignWorks Studio, which is an urban design studio housed within the Planning Department that provides site assistance for proposed public and private development projects, the Planning Department has worked directly with private property owners in the development of 11 different projects on Pensacola Street. The goal is to achieve high quality development and enhanced urban design consistent with the community vision in the Comprehensive Plan and land development codes.
In 2023, the Planning Department worked with FDOT to reclassify the designation of Pensacola Street (Stadium Drive to Appleyard Drive) from Suburban Commercial to Urban General. This will allow future improvements to Pensacola Street to provide for wider sidewalks and streetscapes that better reflect the characteristics of the area and assist with the growth of residential and commercial properties on the corridor.
In order to attract and retain businesses as well as grow jobs, OEV has actively participated in meetings held by LCSO and the CoC with Pensacola Street residents and businesses to promote job opportunities as well as programs and services that provide local small businesses financial and technical support. OEV and Amazon collaborated to recruit employees for the Amazon Robotics Fulfillment Center from areas that have historically experienced high unemployment levels including 32301, 32303, and 32304. Approximately 1,400 employees are currently employed at the Fulfillment Center, earning a wage of $17 an hour or more which exceeds the projected hourly wage of $15 per hour. Approximately 43% of the Amazon employees reside in zip codes 32301, 32303 and 32304.
In August 2024, OEV, in partnership with LCSO and the CoC, released a survey on the effect of the homeless population on businesses. The survey as well as the input provided at the meeting will be utilized by OEV to enhance financial and/or technical assistance to the businesses in the area to address the impact of homelessness and make any recommendations to the Blueprint IA for program development.
Conclusion:
West Pensacola Street has experienced periods of transition throughout its history. What was once a World War II-era airfield became a transportation connector eventually anchoring two of our major institutions of higher education. As such, single family residential properties on the corridor transitioned over the years to student housing, along with a once viable, but problematic “commercial strip” development pattern common during that time. Large tracts of available land along the corridor led to an extensive cluster of government institutional uses followed by a significant human services presence to address pressing community needs. While portions of the corridor continue to attract investment and redevelopment, other segments have experienced considerable disinvestment and decline, along with associated crime.
In recent years, significant planning and actions have been undertaken to combat crime and nuisance activities, while investing in infrastructure and enacting policy to promote quality development, redevelopment and reinvestment in the area. Some of these recent efforts include:
Multi-jurisdictional collaboration and coordination, along with active engagement of stakeholders will be essential to address the problems and realize the continued future potential of this important corridor in our community. County staff will continue to work with the City, LCSO, and stakeholders on policy, enforcement, and infrastructure initiatives as described herein, which will include engaging West Pensacola Street residents, businesses and the COC with future recommendations coming to the Board for consideration.
Options:
Recommendation:
Option #1
Attachments: