BRADENTON, Fla. — Faith leaders in Manatee County have continued to demand a meeting with Sheriff Randy Wells.
The organization, STREAM, is an acronym for "Stronger Together Reaching Equality Across Manatee." They are pushing for a program that would help people avoid arrests for minor offenses, especially for low-level traffic infractions. STREAM says it's a second chance they believe could not only cut down on crime, but show compassion for many people who have found themselves struggling with poverty.
"An arrest record is something that follows a person for life," Pastor Joreatha Capers of Rogers Memorial United Methodist Church said. "Whether it's a notice to appear, or physically arrested."
The coalition of faith leaders that make up STREAM came together for a prayer vigil in front of the sheriff's office on Thursday. The organization has been advocating for an end to what they have characterized as a system of criminalizing poverty.
Dozens of people gathered in the parking lot, holding candles, singing hymns and praying for the diversion program to be implemented in Manatee County.
According to the organization, matters like driving on a suspended license or expired tags should be included in the implementation of the adult pre-arrest diversion program in Manatee County.
"It is low-level, misdemeanor, first-time offenses, nonviolent," Capers said.
Capers said the prayer vigil was a follow-up to a series of requests and calls to action that started in April 2022. Just last week, the group delivered 500 community letters to the sheriff's office.
After talks with Bradenton and Palmetto police chiefs, they want the apex law enforcement leader in the county to see that adults have the option to avoid arrests for not paying fines from traffic-related offenses or having their license automatically suspended because they can't afford to pay such fines.
"You just have one fine being piled on top of another fine and we're just creating a bigger problem because now I may lose my job, now I can't afford to pay my rent, and now they can take my children away," Capers said. "So it's really making a problem more complex than it needs to be."
State Attorney of the 12th Judicial District Ed Brodsky created the proposal which does not consider DWIs, persons involved in felony vehicle accidents, or habitual traffic offenders. An adult pre-arrest diversion program has already been implemented and expanded in Sarasota since July.
That program has helped nearly 100 people avoid an arrest on their record. Adult diversion programs mirror the citation program for juveniles involved in misdemeanor and low-level crimes.
"It is very, very successful," Capers said. "89% of the juveniles who have a first offense are not arrested anymore and that's what we're asking for our adults."
"Sheriff Rick Wells has met with this group to hear their ideas, but Sheriff Wells and other law enforcement officials in Manatee County have made it very clear that any changes to state statutes need to be addressed by the Florida legislators who continue to make adjustments in traffic laws for those impacted by suspended licenses," according to a spokesperson for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
"For years, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office has worked with the State Attorney's Office and other organizations to adopt diversion programs for minor offenses," Wells said in a statement.
"Contrary to what has been stated, a first-time offender who has no knowledge that their driver's license has been suspended receives an infraction citation and not a misdemeanor charge. Driving with an expired tag is an infraction citation unless the tag has been expired for more than 6 months. The majority of expired tags my deputies encounter result in a summons and not an arrest. We also find people who typically drive with a suspended license or an expired tag, often don't have car insurance, and are recklessly putting other motorists at risk," Wells continued.
"Every day, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office receives numerous traffic complaints from citizens who observe violations of state traffic laws and we continue to enforce these laws and make our roads safer," he wrote.
But Capers begged to differ on Wells' position and said law enforcement leaders have the authority to implement the program.
"It's within his power to do it as discretion to do it and it is not a difficult ask," Capers said.
10 Tampa Bay's Malique Rankin contributed to this article.