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Q_-_Newberry_ASCO_DSF2627After several residents voiced concerns about law enforcement being overly aggressive in Newberry's NW 252nd Street area of town, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) has been investigating leads and reaching out to the community for help with resolving the issue. 

At a city commission meeting on July 26, six residents complained that police were harassing innocent citizens and being disrespectful when responding to calls in the NW 252nd Street area.

In response, Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell held a community meeting at Newberry City Hall on Aug. 9 to hear what residents had to say and address their concerns.

Darnell said that the complaints revealed a need for ACSO to improve its efforts to connect with the community.

“It wasn’t pleasant to hear, but it was necessary for us to get that information,” she said.

While she was not happy to hear about the complaints, Darnell said that she is proud of the way that ACSO has responded to them.

“We had a couple of citizens who were concerned, but we’ve been very responsive in meeting with them and doing follow-up as of the next day,” Darnell said.

In order to encourage citizens to come forward with information about any police misconduct that may have occurred, ACSO arranged for Keith Vermillion, chief inspector for the Office of Professional Standards, to be at the City of Newberry mayor’s office on Aug. 18 and 24.

According to Lt. Steve Maynard, the public information officer for ACSO, seven citizens came to speak with Vermillion.

While most of the information that was given lacked specific details, all of the leads are being looked into, according to Maynard. He added that supervisors will be randomly reviewing the digital video and audio tapes that are recorded from the vehicles and persons of the deputies.

“If we determine that anything less than professional, courteous interaction has taken place, those deputies will be held accountable,” he said.

In order to improve its relationship with the community, Maynard said that ACSO has established a neighborhood watch in the NW 252nd Street area and is focusing on “community-oriented policing,” an approach that Maynard described as assigning an officer to the same beat in order for him or her to communicate with the citizens and get to know them better.

Although ACSO plans to address the concerns from residents, it does not intend to decrease its presence in the NW 252nd Street area.

“We have to have the same presence because the need is there,” Maynard said.

According to Maynard, the ACSO responded to 4,546 calls for service in Newberry from April 14, 2009 to Aug. 2, 2010, excluding traffic stops. Of those calls, 1,599, or 35 percent, came from the 10 square blocks around NW 252nd Street.

Mayor Harry Nichols said that the sheriff’s department has done a great job with responding to the complaints.

“They have gone out of their way to respond to problems and concerns from people,” Nichols said.

Any citizen of Newberry who feels that he or she has been treated unprofessionally by a member of ACSO can contact the Office of Professional Standards at 352-384-3050 to file a formal complaint.