In a 40-page strategic plan released Monday, Nov. 9, Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight identifies five major goals that will guide the sheriff’s office for the next five years.

Those goals are:

• Combat criminal activity and address conditions that foster crime and fear in Sarasota County.

• Make the roadways and waterways of Sarasota County safe places on which to travel.

• Recruit, develop, retain and recognize a diverse, educated and skilled workforce.

• Ensure agency and individual accountability by effective and efficient use of personnel, equipment and technology.

• Ensure the safety and security of those utilizing court services and in the county’s correctional facilities.

Knight also detailed 125 specific steps in his strategic plan that the sheriff’s office will take to accomplish those five goals. For example, to more effectively combat crime, Knight wants the sheriff’s office to enhance its response to citizen calls for assistance; assure the exchange of information with other law-enforcement agencies and the community; partner with the community to create innovative and proactive crime-prevention initiatives; effectively use investigative resources to identify and prosecute offenders; assure adequate domestic-security and disaster-preparedness measures are in place; positively impact and inspire the community’s youth; and implement philosophy of intelligence-led policing.

Knight said it’s the first time in the 88-year history of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office that such a planning tool has been implemented.

Contact Robin Roy at rroy@yourobserver.com.