ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced on Tuesday the immediate implementation of a Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task force. It’s made up of four police agencies who will no longer investigate themselves in serious bodily injury or death cases.

"This is a dramatic shift in long-term and entrenched policies and practices by law enforcement agencies in Pinellas County," said Sheriff Gualtieri. "We believe it's the right thing to do at the right time."

The new taskforce is made up of three homicide detectives from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, the St. Petersburg Police Department, the Clearwater Police Department, and one homicide detective from the Pinellas Park Police Department.

Those 10 homicide detectives will lead investigations into use of force incidents that leave a citizen with serious bodily injury or death.

"In these times it's necessary to change," Gualtieri said. "To put a process in place whereby the agency conducting the investigation of an officer or deputy who uses deadly force is not the agency that employs that officer or deputy."

For example, if a Clearwater police officer is under investigation, then the three homicide detectives from that agency will be taken off the taskforce case, while the seven detectives from the other agencies will lead the investigation.

For deputies the dividing line will be Ulmerton Road. Any case that happens south of Ulmerton will be lead by the St. Petersburg Police Department, while cases north of Ulmerton will be handled by the Clearwater Police Department.

"Nobody in Pinellas County gets a pass just because they happen to be a cop," said Gualtieri. "This is about public trust and confidence in outcomes."​

Sheriff Gualtieri said the taskforce was his idea and a direct response to the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd. Those protesters have been calling for more accountability in law enforcement.

"We're hearing you, and we're working on it," said Gualtieri. "My message to them is we all want the same thing."

The Pinellas Sheriff said the system they had in place was working well and points to a 2015 case involving former Deputy Timothy Virden as proof. Virden shot a handcuffed man twice during a traffic stop in Madeira Beach.

Virden was fired, arrested, and charged with manslaughter. The victim survived but had part of his intestine removed and was left with a bullet lodged in his spine. The former deputy pled guilty and was sentenced to three years of probation.

"He improperly used deadly force. So, the system works," said Gualtieri. "This changes not because of any incident or because of any issue."

Sheriff Gualtieri said he's being proactive and did not want to wait for an incident to change the policy.

"Times have changed and these times that we're in continue to evolve and regardless of whether we actually do it right, which we had," he said. "It has to be perceived by the community as being done right and that means perceived as being done objectively and impartially to reach a just result."​

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office and each of the police agency's internal affairs departments will also conduct independent investigations.

The Tarpon Springs Police Department declined to join the taskforce because they have a contract with the FDLE to conduct use of force investigations, according to Gualtieri.