Ashley Moody, Florida tax collectors team up to fight crime

Image via AG Gancarski

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody rolled out a new alliance with the state’s tax collectors in Jacksonville Wednesday.

A media release from the Moody’s office noted that “beginning today, information and resources about important statewide crime-fighting and prevention initiatives, including combating human trafficking and the opioid epidemic, avoiding scams and anonymously reporting crime, will be on display in tax collector offices across Florida.”

“I am so excited to join the Florida Tax Collectors Association to help distribute important crime prevention information and resources to even more Floridians. Human trafficking, the opioid abuse and consumer scams affect the lives of Floridians on a daily basis and knowing how to properly respond to each of these unique situations is crucial and, in some instances, could help save a life. I am grateful to each of the Florida Tax Collector’s offices that will begin displaying information from our office to better engage and educate our communities on these issues that affect all Floridians,” Moody said.

She addressed media in Jacksonville, where her remarks focused heavily on a statewide Crime Stoppers tip line (**TIPS) recently rolled out to replace 27 different numbers around the state.

“A simple streamlined number. Very catchy. My 11-year-old remembers it,” she said.

Moody, with tax collectors from around the region and the state, said the effort would allow “citizens in the state of Florida to help us stop crime. That includes everything from the opioid epidemic to human trafficking, and finally, any type of crime where someone might have information and wants to report that crime anonymously.”

Tax collectors, Moody said, are natural resources in the fight against crime for Florida law enforcement.

“They interact with the public on a daily basis in ways that are critical to Floridians,” she said about the revenue agents.

Moody noted that in Jacksonville, the homicide rate is on the rise in certain areas of town, and for this and other places with a high murder rate, rewards can be increased, “nearly doubled,” in fact, for good anonymous tips.

A representative from Northeast Florida Crime Stoppers hailed the new one-stop line, saying it would “simplify tremendously” the tipster process.

John Power, the President of the Florida Tax Collectors Association, extolled the initiative.

“We could not be prouder than we are now to partner with Attorney General Moody in this effort,” Power said.

Nassau County Tax Collector John Drew, a former President of the FTCA himself, noted that he and Moody worked together to develop the **TIPS idea “a little while back.”

“I knew there was no better office for the tax collectors to partner with than that of the Attorney General,” Drew said, in launching the **TIPS concept.