Pinellas sheriff tells Sarasota County: Open a county homeless shelter yourself

[News]

Pinellas Sheriff Robert Gualtieri told Sarasota County commissioners to stop arguing with the City of Sarasota and "open a [county] homeless shelter yourself [instead of arguing with the cities about it]." That's what Pinellas County, did after negotiations with municipalities failed, while the Pinellas County jail population swelled — mostly because of homeless people being arrested for non-violent crimes. Sheriff Gualtieri said Pinellas County opened a come-as-you-are homeless shelter in a building adjacent to the jail. The facility takes people from the street and those brought in by local officers who otherwise would take them to jail.

Sheriff Gualtieri said that an average of 400 people sleep at the Pinellas County shelter on any given night. The jail population, which had hit 3,800 prior to the shelter's opening, immediately plummeted and continued to decrease to less than 3,000 today. Pinellas County funds a majority of the facility's $2.3 million annual budget, with little to no contributions from municipalities, but it still saved Pinellas County money because it costs $126 per night to jail an individual, versus $13 nightly to shelter them. Gualtieri said, "the problem is that a majority of individuals who stay there are the hard cases, the ones who don't want help and don't want housing."

Technical details (in PDF):
http://www.pinellashomeless.org/Portals/0/PIT%20REPORT%202015%20Final.pdf

Full story:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20151013/ARTICLE/151019856/2416/NEWS?Title=Sarasota-County-urged-to-open-homeless-shelter-

[Unregistered]

Just read this at the H-T website:


How about building a Sarasota County shelter on county-owned property across the street from the jail e.g. on the vacant lot between SPD and the judicial center, which is directly across the street from the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office on Ringling BL? Bring it to the negotiation table between the city and the county at the next joint-meeting on November 6.

The county and the city have been squabbling about that empty lot for over 10 years now. It's across the street from the jail, which is a perfect location between SPD, SSO, the jail and the judicial center. It's a perfect spot to be in the mix.

[Unregistered]

The county and the city have been squabbling about that empty lot for over 10 years now. It's across the street from the jail, which is a perfect location between SPD, SSO, the jail and the judicial center. It's a perfect spot to be in the mix.
The land is owned by the city, but the county wants it. Would the city be willing to give-up the land for the county to build a shelter on it, which would be run by the Sarasota Sheriff's Office? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Unregistered]

How about building a county run homeless shelter adjacent to UTC mall near the bus stop? UTC mall can offer employment opportunities too.