Escambia sheriff hopes 'solutions will become clear' at second gun violence roundtable

Residents in Escambia County were rocked by the shooting death of a Pensacola man during a youth football game at a Bellview ballpark on Oct. 1.

Escambia Sheriff Chip Simmons asked the community to help by sharing information regarding the suspects, and Simmons subsequently called for a massive "gun violence roundtable" discussion to try and find solutions to drug and domestic violence-caused gun problems.

Now, three months later Simmons has scheduled the second roundtable with hopes that elected local and state officials can devise solutions to curb shootings county-wide.

"I think we're still in the intelligence gathering type situation," Simmons said. "I think that as we continue to isolate what the situation looks like, I think the potential solutions will become clear."

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Is there a plan for the next roundtable?

At the first roundtable, myriad causes of gun violence were discussed and just as many solutions were floated out by the 14 legislators and public officials who attended.

Commissioner Lumon May told everyone during the first meeting that crux of the issue is poverty in the community.

"There's not middle class Black kids, there's not rich Black kids killing each other," May said at the October meeting. "It's poor Black kids in America killing other poor Black kids."

Pensacola City Councilman Delarian Wiggins offered fatherless households as the underlying issues amongst communities, saying, "Fathers need to be in the home, because fathers carry a strong voice."

"When I was growing up, a lot of things, a lot of problems that I experienced with my family were solved at the dinner table," Wiggins said. "Families don't eat dinner together anymore."

Simmons said he wants to use the issues from the first meetup as a springboard toward viable solutions that each section of the community and its leaders can enact.

"I'm just one voice," Simmons told the News Journal. "I want to hear what other members of the roundtable say, what potential solutions they can bring from their particular hamlet, and also have the citizens, people come and talk and give their perspectives."

The sheriff also said he ultimately wants to hear from everyone involved, but plans to have at least a couple plans by the end of the second roundtable.

"We want to hear more from the school district; we want to hear more from the Board of County Commissioners and state representatives," Simmons said. "I'm not one to meet just to meet, so we're probably going to isolate on a couple of things.

"I've got a couple things in mind that I'll bring forward," he added.

Simmons is keeping his detailed plans close to the vest until the next meeting, but said he plans to talk about strides with the real-time crime center and youth mentorship as possible effective solutions.

Where is the second roundtable?

The second meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 18 at the Brownsville Community Center, and Simmons will present crime statistics from the county since Oct. 18 — the date of the first roundtable discussion.

The public is welcome to attend and will have the opportunity to ask questions. Simmons said citizens will have a 30-mintue window at the beginning of the meeting to ask questions to everyone at the roundtable, instead of the previous format of writing their questions on a notecard prior to the meeting.

"If you're going to have a roundtable and members of the roundtable selected, I think you should have an opportunity for people to get the mic and to say what they think the cause or solutions are," Simmons said. "We'll give people an opportunity, about three minutes per person, and hear what they have to say."

Further information regarding the next roundtable can be found on the ECSO's Facebook event or you can contact the ECSO at 850-436-9620.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: ECSO to hold second gun violence roundtable in Brownsville Jan. 18