Monday, July 27, 2009

A homicide suspect was apprehended in Sanford, Florida yesterday after running a red light. Guess what his previous criminal charges were? Battery on law enforcement officer, burglary and vehicle theft. These are exactly the same type of charges people are being released on through the Orange County, Florida jail's pretrial release program every day! So called "minor" offenses seldom remain minor but usually escalate to more serious crimes, particularly when the individual is not held accountable for the crime.

If an individual is arrested for committing a criminal offense, and they are asked if they want to, "get out of jail for free or pay a bondsman to get out," what do you think their answer would be? Do you think they would learn anything about accountability with this message? Would you feel safe knowing such an individual is able to walk out of jail for free back to your neighborhood?

What is your answer?

2 comments:

  1. I don't feel safe now but particularly after learning about the pretrial release program and how people are being released for serious crimes and then never even seeing a Judge. Who do I write to about this??

    ReplyDelete
  2. In Orange County, Florida you can write or e-mail your County Commissioners. The mailing address is 201 S. Rosalind Avenue, 5th floor, Orlando, Florida 32801. All of the Commissioner's names and e-mail addresses can be found at the following link: http://www.orangecountyfl.net/cms/default.htm

    Thanks for your comment!

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