On September 1, 2020, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a press conference to announce a formal directive to the agency’s search warrant policy.

Sheriff Gualtieri said, “We recognize that we live in evolving times with changing circumstances and certainly with changing community expectations…we have and we will continue to evaluate how we police, toward achieving everyone’s common goal of maintaining a community that has as little crime as possible.”

Sheriff Gualtieri stated when needing to enforce the law, it must be done in a manner that ensures the safety of citizens, law enforcement officers and offenders. The policies and procedures put into place are to diminish the potential for harm to everyone involved.

Eight years ago, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office implemented practices that helped avoid the inherent dangers that may occur when serving a search warrant. Today, these practices became part of a written formal Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office General Order and directives that deputies are now mandated to follow while serving search warrants.

According to Sheriff Gualtieri, “No amount of drugs is worth anyone’s life, whether it’s a law enforcement officer or a suspect.”

To view the complete press conference, please see the attached link: https://youtu.be/CwZr_gDYTHI