Choose Peace - A Message from Mayor Dyer

As Mayor my top priority is the safety of our community. As Orlando’s residents and workers go about their daily lives I want them to be safe and feel safe at all times.

Since I appointed Chief Demings to her post a year and half ago, the City Commissioners and I have stood together to announce new and innovative crime-fighting strategies in our effort to reduce violent crime in Orlando.

I am proud to say that in that time violent crime has dropped by 10 percent, but it still isn’t enough. We must continue to develop new approaches that continue to make our neighborhoods stronger and our streets safer. I am committed to doing everything within my power as Mayor to reduce crime even further.

That’s why we are announcing a new initiative to unite the entire community  businesses, schools, churches, parents and youth in the fight against crime, specifically targeting our youth.

We are urging our youth to CHOOSE PEACE.

Tragically, 63% of the suspects in last year’s homicides were committed by youth age 25 or younger. The Orlando Police Department has deployed tactics that increase their street presence and deployed specialized operations that focus on drugs, repeat offenders and violent crime trends to attack violent crime at the street level. But, arresting people who commit criminal acts is only one part of the solution to stopping crime. We must work to prevent crimes from being committed.

The way you prevent crime is to let those who are in the unfortunate position of considering a criminal act know that they have a choice.

A choice about what kind of person they want to be.
A choice about the consequences of their actions.
A choice that won’t lead them to a life behind bars.

The Choose Peace campaign is about starting a community wide conversation with the goal of letting our youth know they have choices.

We can’t start this community conversation all on our own …in fact I know we experience the greatest successes through partnership. The SAFE Orlando Task Force re-iterated this with their prevention recommendations. Specifically, to launch a public wide community safety mass marketing campaign.

That’s why we have collaborated with Monica May and STAR 94.5, DJ Prostyle and 95.3, Rumba 100.3, Clear Channel Outdoor, our faith based leaders, Orange County Corrections, the Orange County School system, tenet and homeowners associations and the Orange County Sherriff’s Office to collectively say we CHOOSE PEACE and educate the community on their role in preventing crime.

Together with Chief Val Demings, I stand committed to keeping our youth from turning to a life of crime and giving our youth hope to achieve their dreams.