In your response to our questions, you said that active prolific offenders are classified as active criminal intelligence and are not a public record. Does that mean that the list of prolific offenders you provided to us on Jan. 31 included only inactive prolific offenders? Were those Top 5s and district targets also inactive? The Pasco Sheriff’s Office believes answering any additional questions on these documents would reveal active criminal intelligence information which is exempt from disclosure. In your response to our questions, you said you have an internal audit and review process “to ensure everyone on the current prolific list is in fact, by definition, a prolific offender.” Can you provide copies of those audits and reviews? There are no documents nor is this a written review. Instead, as previously provided to the Times, these are analytical reviews by the ILP analysts assigned to each District. The analysts, after receiving the scored list, perform a manual review of each offender to ensure criteria are met and assign the prolific offender tag only to those offenders that are actively impacting the crime environment in Pasco County. If the analysts believe someone does not qualify, they will not be assigned as a focus. In your response to our questions, you said the agency had “conducted analysis on the effectiveness of our process to include scoring and the percentage of individuals committing crimes within our county.” Can you provide a copy of that analysis? This request has been sent to our Public Records section. In your response to our questions, you said you continue to partner with Mr. Ratcliffe on this program. We spoke to Mr. Ratcliffe and he said he had not spoken with anyone in Pasco in years and his involvement was mostly limited to a training session he ran in 2013. Can you provide more details on his involvement? Dr. Ratcliffe’s books are recommended reading for all agency members and are part of the re- quired reading for the certified member promotional process. In addition, several of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office policing strategies are founded in principles from his research and books. Further, Pasco Sheriff’s Office Captain Justin Ross contributed a segment to Dr. Ratcliffe’s recent book (originally published July 31, 2018) Reducing Crime: A Companion for Police Leaders (this link features all of those who provided segments to the book and includes Captain Ross, noting he is a previous Director of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office’s Intelligence-Led Policing Section: com/vigneflerauthors), along with acknowledgements in that book bemg given to P50 members Major Jeff feake Captain Mike Jenkins and Major Tait Sanbom in addition, several ofPSO's commanders and attended a January 2020 training of Dr Ratcliffe's in St Petersburg in your response to our memos, you said the agency had made efforts to provide Mr Lott with resources What resources were provided to Mr Lott and whenv Mr Lott was proVided the card attached to the memo prevtously sent to the Times These res sources are designed to assist prolific offenders by providing them information on available community resources for a wide swath ofissues they may be experiencing in your response to our memo, you said that Mr Lou's mother had also overdosed Can you pro-- vide additional information on how you know thisl Are there any documents on this incidentv This vins a misstatement and we regret the error, it vins --who overdosed_ not Mr Lott's- The point regarding enVironmental factors remains the same We are ate tempting to provtde as much information in the most thorough manner possible while being res spectful ofthe Times' requested deadlmes in addition to continuing our normal operations Our reporting shows that deputies continued to make prollfic offender checks on Mr Lott after the Department ofiuvenile Justice identified him as at risk ofsuicide Was the Sheriff's omce awe ofthis" lfyes, did the agency take any steps in responsev lfno, would the agency have done anything differently if it had knowm Are there any safeguards built into the program for people with disabilities or known mental health issues" The ILP program is wholly based on the onending histories ofthe individual involved and keeps ing them from offending funher As preViously stated to the Times, the ILP philosophy removes all identifying information for an individual, and focuses solely on their criminal history While mental health issues are certainly an epidemic throughout our state_ we again point to the critical need for additional mental health resources in not only our community but the state as well, whlle law enforcement focuses on reduction As evidenced by the creation of the Pasco Sheriff's Otfice's Behavloral l-iealth intervention Team (BHIT), law enforcement is forced to address mental health issues to fill the void lefi by a lack ofcommunlty resources In addition, regarding tlte specific case oer the Pasco Sheriff's Office has access to tire Depanment ot'JuveniIe Justice (DJJ) Face Sheet for Mr Lott er, "2 have no record of to tlte Pasco Sherifi's (mice or DJJ provtding additional information related to h} he was Identified as a suicide risk in your response to our memo, you said Mr Wojleckt ts an active gang member in the BWC footage from the prolitic offender checks on Mr Wojtecki, the deputtes tell Mr Wojleckt they know he ts not getting into trouble or selling drugs, and they are there only because he was hang. ing out with kids who had been arrested Given that it seems to contradict the statements from deputies on the prolitic offender checks, can you provide tnformatton on your asser- tion that he is an active gang member" As pret provided this is acttve intelligence and unahte to he released in your response to our memo, you said the May 20 I9 incident involving Vaughn Sr had "nothing to do with a Prolific onender check or the program Mr Smith, however, satd that deputies asked him about his son before detaining him Can you provide the BWC footage from this incident" This request has been sent to our Public Records section in several cases, the htstortes you provided not match FDLE or records, which we obtained with the families' pennisston - You satd that-Gary had Juvenile orders for burglary, reststing Without lence, Ihefi and battery on an ofl'tcer/ftrefighter/EMT Those "'05 do not appear on his face sheet from the Department ofJuventle Justice Those charges do, however, ap. pear on - Lorenzo's face sheet Was-incorrectly targeted for his-'5 offenses" Our records iitdicate that Lorenzo (iary "as a district target on 05/23/2019 when he was 16 years ofage He was made the target due to his four active JFUs refer ence Burglary, Resisting Without Violence, Fetit Theft and Battery oit ()Fficer/Firefighter/ EMT Netther Lorenzo nor-(iary was documented as a otfender "as prevtously stated as-not Lorenzo it "as a scrivener's error as to the writing oflhe response, not an error in data or records and this response should serve to clarify these facts - You said has been airested three times in Pasco County FDLE records show two arrests (April 2016 and December 2016) Can you provide details on the third incidentw While we cannot speak to the specifics ofivhat was provided to the Times in the FDLE records there are three booking numbers for Mr- in Pasco County tivssoo [84598 and [84699) 17 total charges, which include Burglary Auto Burs glary Structure Force Entry, Thefi of Firearm, Grand Thefi and Burglary Structure Occur pied The three arrests stem from nine separate PSO cases in which he "as the identified ot'fender The statistics you provided on the decline in property crimes match the overall trend across the Tampa Bay area The eight largest law enforcement agencies in the region have had similar de. creases But violent crime has gone up only in Pasco even though the intelligence-led policing guidebooks also have a focus on violent crimes Do you have any additional statistics to illustrate why you believe the program has been successful" We previously provided a response to the Tampa Bay Times regarding the reduction in crime in Pasco County despite our county's exponential population growth rate We stand by a program that has provided a 74 4% reduction in residential burglaries, which is a major concern for the citizens P50 serves, since 201 1 This reduction has undoubtedly improved the quality oflite for the ot'Pasco County in addition, several agencies the Times references, including Hillsborough County, utilize the model in fact, according to their own website //teamhcso com/Secllon/c6e972e the l-iillsborough Sherlt'Fs onice imples mented this philosophy in 2009 l-lcso_ has initiated the inception ot'the IntelligencerLed Policing {le) philosophy into the ofl'lce and the results are proving to be substantial Since its initiation in 2009, the county's overall crime rate has continued to decline This innovation in polic1ng is a Slmteg|c_ futurerorlented and targeted approach to crime control This polic1ng model focuses upon the identification, analysis and management ofpersistmg and developing problem or risks HCSO, attributes the determination and commitment ofthe deputies their ciVilian support teams and the cooperation \Vllh Citizen and CWIC groups for the contmued success innovative policing philosophy It is important to note that Hillsborough’s ILP implementation occurred two years prior to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, and we are grateful for the information they provided as we crafted our ILP philosophy. Additionally, Pinellas County hired two of PSO’s former analysts as they created their ILP model. With the Times asserting that this similar drop in crime is seen across the Tampa Bay area, it would be remiss not to identify how many of these agencies in the immediate area use the ILP philosophy (while we cannot speak to the specifics of their program, it is important to provide context to additional agencies that have ILP philosophies in our immediate vicinity): - Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (source previously provided) - Tampa Police Department (source: https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/tampa-police-de- partment-intelligence-led-policing-dramatically-reduces-crime/) Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (source: https://www.pcsoweb.com/internship-program, internships available in the Intelligence-Led Policing Division) St. Petersburg Police Department (source: https://police.stpete.org/ilp-unit/index.html) These agencies are a sampling in the immediate area of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office of agencies that employ the ILP philosophy. Furthermore, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office has partnered with several of the agencies listed above. These partnerships include a joint training at the inception of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office’s program with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office also hosted senior leadership from the Tampa Police Department to observe and model how the Pasco Sheriff’s Office conducts our ILP program. However, the Times assertion that the drop in property crimes “match the overall trend across the Tampa Bay area” seems to indicate that the ILP philosophy is a success based on widespread use of the philosophy, and the Times’ own assertion that property crimes are, in fact, declining in the region. The fact remains, despite the seeming editorial direction of the Times to indicate that the ILP philosophy is solely a Pasco Sheriff’s Office creation or that it is only used by the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the ILP philosophy is widespread throughout law enforcement, including several other Tampa Bay area agencies. While we are proud of our ILP efforts and the success they’ve had in reducing and solving crimes (which will be discussed later), we cannot take credit for being the first, nor only, agency in the area to implement the ILP philosophy. Furthermore, we would dispute the assertion that violent crime has “only” increased in Pasco. While, again, we cannot speak to the source of information that the Times is using for this claim, a comparison of the FDLE UCR reports from 2011 to 2019, show that several jurisdictions in our area have experienced an increase in violent crime (2011 UCR numbers are available here: http:// www.fdle.state.fl.us/FSAC/UCR/2011/CoMuOff2011annual and 2019 UCR numbers are available here: http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/FSAC/UCR/2019/County_and_Municipal_Offense_Report_2019A): Pasco Sheriff’s Office: Two additional murders from 2011 to 2019 (11 to 13), 146 additional rapes, and 116 additional aggravated assaults. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office: Four additional murders from 2011 to 2019 (28 to 32), 115 additional rapes, and a reduction of 245 aggravated assaults. Tampa Police Department: Three additional murders from 2011 to 2019, 62 additional rapes, and a reduction of 369 aggravated assaults. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office: One fewer murder, 30 fewer rapes, and 419 fewer aggravated assaults. St. Pete Police Department: Four fewer murders, 35 additional rapes, and 546 fewer aggravated assaults. Again, we cannot speak to the specific information on which the Times relied to draw conclusions. However, based on FDLE UCR reports, it is irresponsible to suggest that Pasco County is the “only” law enforcement agency in the Tampa Bay area that saw an increase in violent crimes in their jurisdiction. Moreover, while there may be an increase in the number of violent cases, it is important to note the data regarding the crime rate per 100,000 citizens as reported by FDLE, and an analysis of this data is below. As the Times was previously provided, our population continues to grow and an analysis from 2016 to the present finds: - 2016 violent crime: 1,653 cases - 2019 violent crime: 1,693 cases according to FDLE, which is a 2.42% increase in sheer case volume from 2016 - 2016 population of Pasco County: 509,937 - 2019 population of Pasco County: 553,947, which is an 8.63% population growth in Pasco County from 2016 according to the US Census Bureau - 2016 violent crime rate: 333.4 per 100,000 citizens - 2019 violent crime rate: 321.2 per 100,000 citizens according to FDLE Therefore, while the number of violent crime cases has increased in sheer numbers, our overall violent crime rate per 100,000 citizens has declined by 3.66% from 2016 to 2019, according to FDLE. Furthermore, when addressing the increase in rape cases specifically, we are proud of the work we have done in our community to raise awareness to this traditionally underreported issue, though we cannot comment on other jurisdictions. While we are never happy to see an increase in crime, we believe that this number reflects the empowerment of our community who now feel comfortable reporting this often underreported crime. Also, it is important to note that ILP analysts do more than just work on residential or violent crimes. Instead they are tied into the very fabric of our agency. For example, ILP analysts recently played a significant part in a string of drug arrests that lead to 435,000 lethal doses of fentanyl removed from Pasco County’s streets. Despite the fact that these fatal doses were nearly enough for every citizen in Pasco County, and that this information was provided to several Times reporters, the Times chose not to cover this story. These arrests included several aspects of our agency (information on those drug arrests can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/? v=1189810431386743). In addition, we are also extremely proud of the clearance rate of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, which is among the highest in the area as of 2019, at 38.9%. This is an improvement from 31.5% since 2011. It can be compared to 38.7% (an improvement from 26.1% since 2011) for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, 26.2% (a drop from 30.8% since 2011) for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, 32.8% (an increase from 31.5% since 2011) for the Tampa Police Department and 22.3% (an improvement from 19.3% since 2011) for the St. Petersburg Police Department. We believe this increased clearance rate, and the growth in our clearance rate since 2011, can be attributed to our adoption of the ILP philosophy, as we work through networks to identify offenders. In short, ILP has reduced crime in Pasco County and plays a vital role in solving more crimes as evidenced by statistics provided here. The Times has been continually provided examples of this. Again, we will not apologize for reducing and solving crimes, as this has a direct, positive impact on the citizens of Pasco County.