Volusia County, FL - Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood asked the Volusia County Council (VCC) to authorize a Use-of-Force Review for the Sheriff's Office and to approve the use of $92, 321 in funds.
According to the VCC, Councilwoman Heather Post asked Sheriff Chitwood to give an explanation to the Council about Use-of-Force and how the funds would be used.
"I want to ensure that it is understood exactly what this is, and exactly what the expenditure of $92,000 is for," said Councilwoman Post.
Sheriff Chitwood said the funds he requested are not from tax dollars, but rather have been obtained from drug money forfeiture. He also explained why the review is important and what sort of results he expects on the other side of it.
"The Police Executive Research Forum is currently in Miami-Dade. They are in the city of North Miami. They've done a review of Palm Beach County within the last 18 months and did a review several years ago of Tallahassee's Use-of-Force. The County's Use-of-Force are valid. People feel we will go back and scrutinize the action of deputies and the actions of past incidents. That is not what this is. This is an overview of our Use-of-Force policy. It is our overview of our culture, policy, practices, and procedure and where do we go forward?" said Sheriff Chitwood. "As we all know, nothing undermines public confidence in community relations, or can do any more damage, than the use of deadly force. It is important that we make sure training, tactics, equipment, and policy and procedures are up to national standards. At the end of this study, I'm hopeful that what we put out is going to make our deputy safer, and their community safer. That is the bottom line of this."
The motion passed unanimously without opposition.
Photo courtesy of Andrey_Popov and Shutterstock.com.
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
