In Orange and Osceola counties, both candidates say they want to cut down on serious crime.
Worrell talked about her violent crime task team, whose job it was to go after the most violent criminals in the area. She said that her goal is to lower the number of people in jail if she gets the place back.
Bain said that he will keep focusing on young people and what he calls the reasons of crime.
He started a violent crimes unit and a reading program for teens who are involved with the criminal justice system earlier this year. The program is called Turning Pages.
The day after Election Day, someone was shot and killed in downtown Orlando on Halloween night.
Monday, Bain said that suspect Jaylen Dwayne Edgar, who is 17 years old, will be tried as an adult for the killing. In the killing, two people died and eight others were hurt.
In general, Orlando police have recently said that Florida’s rule on permitless carry helped with some security measures in downtown Orlando.
Worrell and Bain both said what they thought about that law.
Worrell said, “My opponent will not say that because he can not go against his boss, Ron DeSantis, and the Republican Party, even though he claims to be a nonpartisan politician. We need to get rid of permitless carry.”
Bain replied “Many police officers, including myself, did not agree with the change to the law on concealed weapons. However, it is still against the law for a 17-year-old to have a handgun.” According to Bain, the law still says that no one under the age of 21 can have a gun hidden.
Bain said on Monday that the shooting on Halloween brings up a bigger problem: keeping guns and easy access to them out of the hands of people who should not have them, especially kids.
He said that breaking the “cone of silence” that protects dangerous people should not just be a police problem, but something that the whole community does.
Bain said, “I think it does make a difference.” “Anytime we lose a way to hold people responsible who should not have guns accountable, it can have a chain reaction, and we need to be aware of this right now.”
Worrell said that if people choose her to be state attorney, she will continue to work to lower serious crime and the number of people in prison.
She said that the 17-year-old shooter was not being pursued by her government, but by Bain’s. But she says the state attorney can not be blamed for gun crime in their neighborhoods.
“When I was your state attorney, I worked hard to make rules that would keep us safe.” Did it work 100% of the time?
“It was not because being the state attorney is not the most important thing in the world,” Worrell said. “The lawmakers need to be willing to work together to make sure these rules are followed.”
