Church leaders from across Manatee County ask sheriff for new criminal justice approach
A coalition of local religious leaders joined forces again Wednesday to applaud the State Attorney’s Office while demanding action from Manatee County’s top law enforcement official.
Stronger Together Reaching Equality Across Manatee (STREAM) is pushing forward with its request to have the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office move away from “criminalizing poverty.”
Wednesday’s demonstration comes five months after the group brought hundreds of residents together in an attempt to secure affordable housing and a better approach to criminal justice.
STREAM is a group of 15 local church congregations fighting for updated policies to better the lives of Manatee County residents.
On Wednesday, about 20 church leaders from STREAM led a prayer vigil outside the Historic Manatee County Courthouse in downtown Bradenton where they thanked State Attorney Ed Brodsky for implementing a program that reduces the penalties for first-time offenders of certain non-violent crimes.
In Sarasota, Brodsky is already working with Sheriff Kurt Hoffman on a pre-arrest diversion program that has seen success, STREAM leaders say. They would like to see Manatee Sheriff Rick Wells implement the same program as soon as possible.
“Instead of an arrest record that would brand you for the rest of your life, it would give you another chance,” said Rev. Eric Reaves, a pastor at Gethsemane Baptist Church in Bradenton.
Manatee church leaders ask for new pre-arrest program
The pre-arrest diversion program would be especially beneficial for everyday citizens who find themselves in hard times, said Joreatha Capers, senior pastor at Rogers Community United Methodist Church in Bradenton.
“These are not dangerous people. These are people with paperwork problems,” Capers explained. “Have you ever forgotten to update your car registration? Have you ever not had money to pay for a license or fee? If you’re caught driving, you could be arrested. It could happen to anyone.”
Under STREAM’s proposed program, instead of being arrested, first-time offenders of certain non-violent crimes would be processed through a civil citation without creating an arrest record that could limit their opportunities later in life.
“People do get branded. When young people get arrested, it affects job opportunities, their college applications and even their ability to join the military,” said Rev. Fred Hammond from Manatee Unitarian Universalist Church in Bradenton. “It all spirals.”
In an interview with the Bradenton Herald, Wells said he has spoken with Brodsky about implementing the program and is in the process of training deputies. A timeline for the full rollout is unclear, but it could happen by the end of the year.
“We’ve got to have meetings to lay out the criteria on who would be eligible for an adult civil citation,” Wells explained. “But it all depends on how fast deputies can be trained.”
Wells also expressed some skepticism about how effective the program will be, pointing to the program in Sarasota where the usage of the program is “not real high.”
“Most of the people we deal with aren’t first-time offenders,” Wells said.
In the first two months after the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office launched its version of the pre-arrest diversion program in July, 70 people have participated and avoided an arrest record, STREAM said.
The organization also pointed to recent data from Manatee County, which reveals that of the 8,402 misdemeanor arrests in 2019, nearly half of them were for traffic offenses, such as an expired license plate or a suspended license.
“I have seen many young men who made a mistake get arrested and because of that, I’ve seen their lives become difficult and stressful,” Capers said.
Earlier this year, around 600 people attended STREAM’s Nehemiah Action meeting at Southeast High School, where pastors asked local elected officials to commit to efforts to increase the amount of affordable housing in the area and take a new approach to criminal justice.
STREAM leaders remain committed to working with Wells to begin the pre-arrest diversion program soon. The changes will improve a criminal justice system that punishes residents for their inability to pay a fine, they said.
“Let’s be clear: We want to be tough on crime, but most importantly, we want to be smart on crime. Criminalizing minor offenses is not being smart on crime,” said Capers. “Instead, it’s criminalizing poverty.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 3:53 PM.
