Faith leaders meet with Manatee Sheriff Rick Wells to improve pre-arrest diversion program

Faith leaders sat down with Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells and the chiefs of police at five other law enforcement agencies in the county on Thursday to improve a pre-arrest diversion program.

Leaders from Stronger Together Reaching Equality Across Manatee (STREAM), composed of 15 multicultural and interfaith congregations, have worked with the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office and the sheriff's office over the past two years to implement an Adult Pre-Arrest Diversion (APAD) program.

The group's most recent meeting with Wells and other police chiefs was spurred by the group’s dissatisfaction with law enforcement agencies' lack of referrals to APAD in the first quarter of 2024. The program allows law enforcement officers to give consequences to first-time misdemeanor offenders without giving them a criminal record that will follow them throughout their life.

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With APAD, select misdemeanor offenders with no or minimal, nonviolent criminal records can qualify for the program while avoiding criminal arrest and conviction. Offenders will still face consequences in the form of volunteer hours or a monetary fine, but the misdemeanor will not stay on their record.

STREAM received data from State Attorney Ed Brodsky that showed the sheriff’s office had zero people participating in APAD and 13 pre-trial interventions from January to March. In total, Manatee County law enforcement agencies referred six people to APAD, and 33 other people who had pre-trial interventions, where an arrest was made but the individual was referred to the state attorney’s office for dropped charges.

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Rev. Fred Hammond from the Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship said that his concern is that even with pre-trial interventions, that the arrest or the notice to appear would show up on an arrest record or a criminal background check.

“We understand that the officers have discretion as part of their tool bag, but we still think that people need to be given a second chance and not get labeled as a criminal,” Hammond said.

Part of the lack of APAD numbers stems from a disagreement between the offenses that are eligible to be included in the APAD program and what offenders deputies choose to defer to the APAD program. Brodsky outlines ineligible offenses that can’t be included.

This includes: DUI, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, driving while license is suspended if dangerous driver, failing to obey a police officer, resisting an officer without violence, assault, loitering, criminal mischief, possession or use of a firearm, identity theft, gang or hate related offenses, animal offenses, exposure of sexual organs or other sexual offenses, rioting and retail theft if property is valued at $300.

Wells said that the agency will not take retail theft lightly, and the agency will not treat all cases the same. While the agency may have issues with criteria that qualifies someone for the APAD program, he’s not against the program itself.“We believe that there are people who deserve a second chance, but we also have a problem with an adult that walks into Walmart — first time offender or not — and tries to steal a $200 TV and walk out,” Wells said.

During the meeting between faith leaders, Wells and the five other chiefs of police, Hammond brought up how an arrest for a suspended license can impact employment opportunities, but Bradenton Police Chief Melanie Bevan questioned how harmful a criminal record is toward an individual’s job opportunities.

“The city of Bradenton and the Bradenton Police Department have hired people that have been arrested for suspended driver’s licenses…It’s just not true,” Bevan said.

Hammond pushed back and argued that while the city of Bradenton and BPD may choose to hire those with criminal records, private companies may have a totally different position.

A 2023 study from the IRS on the impact of criminal records on employment show that initial criminal history events are associated with sharp and persistent declines in the propensities to have a W-2 reported earnings and to file a 1040 return, even in cases where charges didn’t lead to conviction, the study said.

“In all cases, these declines persist through several years after the initial charge,” researchers said in the study.

Wells has trained the personnel at the sheriff’s office and other agencies throughout the county to utilize the APAD guideline. He guesses that there may have been a few arrests that qualified for APAD and weren't referred, but he said that deputies are given the discretion to direct individuals to the program.

“It’s really up to the deputy,” Wells said. “Was there a mistake, or are they in really bad shape and don’t have enough money for groceries? That’s why they [deputies] use their discretion.”

Aside from the APAD program, the sheriff's office is doing what they can to help young people who commit non-violent crimes and give them a chance to overcome their mistakes, Wells said. The agency issued civil citations, an alternative to arrest, in 83 percent of their incidents with juveniles, Wells added.

Pastor Dexter McDonald from Community Outreach Word of Deliverance Ministries said that they have a follow up meeting scheduled with Wells. McDonald hopes they can hash out differences between Wells and STREAM on who can qualify for the APAD program.

While McDonald is disappointed with the lack of APAD referrals coming out of the sheriff’s office, he feels like the group is making progress.

“I think at the end, we will all benefit, come together and help the first-time offenders,” McDonald said.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Faith leaders meet with Manatee Sheriff Rick Wells to improve pre-arrest diversion program