This is a repost of the Tallahassee Democrat Editorial Board article- Video is available at Tallahassee.com

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Campbell, Sprague spar at Editorial Board meeting
Written by Arek Sarkissian II Florida Capital Bureau
Oct. 20 tallahassee.com
Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell said on Wednesday that if he is re-elected in November, he will stay his
course, finding efficiency and forging partnerships with other agencies.
His opponent, Lisa Sprague, said she, too, would pursue efficiency and implement policies that would make it
up-to-date.
“My vision for Leon County Sheriff is a new era of law enforcement in Leon County,” said Sprague, who is
running with no party affiliation. “One that is built on teamwork, one that is built on modernizing and moving the
sheriff’s office into the 21st Century.”
Democratic candidate Campbell, 69, and Sprague, 56, met before the Tallahassee Democrat’s editorial board to
share their ideas for the county’s top law enforcement seat. They agreed the county has seen a rise in crime and
that the department should consolidate some resources with other agencies. They differed in how they view
cooperative relationships between the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies as well as differences
about the proportion of racial groups represented in the county’s jail population.
The county saw an increased crime rate in the 2011 Annual Uniform Crime Report, released earlier this year by
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. In 2011 there was a 5.7-percent increase in the crime rate from 2010,
and a 6.3-percent increase in the overall volume of crimes.
Campbell attributed the increase to a depressed economy and growing trend of metal theft.
“We have a crime problem, as does every jurisdiction,” Campbell said.
Both candidates referred to a report published more than a year ago by Forbes magazine labeling Tallahassee one
of the most crime-ridden communities in the nation. Sprague said that report used data from the federal Bureau of
Labor Statistics, which included communities across the Panhandle and in Georgia. Her solution was to bring in
experts to examine the county’s demographics, roadway systems, the economy and its two major universities.
Sprague said she would also bring in a team to examine the racial makeup of the jail population. Campbell said his
department only arrests a fraction of the inmates brought into custody and was not at fault for any disproportionate
racial makeup of the jail population.
“I have no say on whether they’re male, female or whatever,” Campbell said, adding he cannot release inmates to
balance the ratio. “I would be guilty of a felony if I did that.”
Sprague said there is room for improvement in the way the sheriff’s office works with other law enforcement. In
response, Campbell read a letter he said was from Tallahassee Police Chief Dennis Jones praising their current
relationship.
“I think we enjoy a very professional relationship with all of them and we work with all of them on a daily basis,”
Campbell said. “The days of us working in the county and them only working in the city are long gone.”
Sprague did not mention an Elections Commission complaint she filed last week, alleging Campbell has
misrepresented his education and military background.
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Campbell used his closing statement to question Sprague’s experience.
“My opponent has said she has been in law enforcement for 31 years, I’ve never heard anything except that she
was at (Florida State University) Police Department,” Campbell said. “That’s not exactly the toughest job in
town.”