Orange County mayor sits down with protest organizers to discuss budget increase for sheriff's office

ORLANDO, Fla. - On Monday, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings sat down with protest organizers who are calling on the county commission to deny the sheriff's office a budget increase. 

Protest organizers with the Stono Institute sat down with Mayor Demings to discuss them protesting the $15 million budget increase request from the Orange County Sheriff's Office. 

"Sheriff Mina came and presented his budget to the board of county commission previously and the board supported that budget at that time," Mayor Demings said in a press conference Monday. "In regards to the group itself, I'll continue to dialog with them."

Sheriff Mina requested a budget increase of about $15 million on July 7.

The current budget is about $267 million.

Protesters would like to reallocate that money to go toward community-based programs.

"We deeply believe we need to invest in our communities, not in policing," said Maxwell Frost, with the Stono Institute. "We want to see money go to social services, rent assistance, violence interrupters, which end gun violence at a local level." 

Sheriff Mina said a majority of the funds would go toward things like union contracts. 

"The majority of that increase, almost $12 million, is really based on current collective bargaining agreements, raises, insurance premiums and requirements by the Florida retired assistance," Sheriff Mina said on July 7. 

Organizers say the mayor listened to what they had to say, but they left the meeting without any concrete next steps.

They say the meeting was a step in the right direction, but they would like to see action. 

"I'm glad that he's willing to really work with us and see if we can make a change," said Warren Chauste, with the Stono Institute. "We all can all work together to try to make a change and tweak the system and see how it can be beneficial for everyone."