Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/138828
OPINION SARASOTA POLICE DEPARTMENT INADEQUACIES TAXING SHERIFF'S OFFICE EDITORIAL The revelation this week by Sarasota Sheriff Tom Knight that his office is responding with greater frequency to requests for assistance from the Sarasota Police Department was an unsettling one. Knight indicated the Sheriff's Office has responded to more situations in the city in the past two months than during the entirety of his previous four years as sheriff. the Police Department. With that level of financial commitment, one would presume the city would be capable of fielding a police force that could handle the law enforcement needs of its residents. Another concern is the matter of transparency. Based on the comments offered to The Sarasota News Leader by Mayor Shannon Snyder, it could be inferred that the City Commission is unaware of this Our concern with this Given Knight's concerns about his situation. Is the city situation exists on officers most frequently being called into manager similarly unseveral levels, not the specific areas of the city, one cannot help aware? least of which is the but wonder if the new chief's concept of disproportionate per- community policing is 'the community Finally, the over-relisouth of Fruitville Road.' centage of the city's ance of the SPD on the budget consumed by Sheriff's Office creates