The Community Affairs Office strives to be responsive and professional in its activities. We act in full compliance with the Florida Public Records Law and in the best interests of the agency, the news media, and the people of Sarasota County. Routine media inquiries and records requests are handled as expeditiously as possible during normal business hours.
This office issues news releases, handles all media inquiries, releases public records, schedules and conducts news conferences, coordinates agency special projects and other communications.
The Community Affairs Office consists of two employees: Wendy Rose, Community Affairs Manager and Sarah Kenniff, Multimedia Coordinator. Both work Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., in the Criminal Justice Center in downtown Sarasota.
Media Liaison
As Community Affairs Manager, Ms. Rose is the designated media liaison. She is on-call Monday through Friday. She and Ms. Kenniff rotate on-call responsibilities on weekends and holidays for emergencies and significant breaking news events.
After Hours Policy
Written records, including arrest affidavits and offense reports, are not available after hours. Staff will not have information readily available regarding non-fatal vehicle crashes, routine arrests, crimes not resulting in death or critical injury, or the status of cases that are not considered breaking news.
Flash Reports may be issued by the on-duty Watch Commander regarding certain incidents of interest to the public.
If you need verification about an incident, call the appropriate Front Desk Deputy and ask for the Watch Commander. The numbers are: North County 941.861.4260 and South County 941.861.1701. Understand that if the Watch Commander is not available, the deputy will page them to call you.
Again, if there is “breaking news” or a large scale incident, the media will be notified.
