A.G. GancarskiPolice-involved shootings are on everyone’s mind in Jacksonville these days, especially those who live in the neighborhoods where they happen. Despite their shared opposition to citizen review boards, both candidates for Jacksonville sheriff recognize there’s a lack of dialogue, and therefore trust, between Duval County residents and those who are sworn to protect and serve them. Thursday, we saw Republican Mike Williams come out in favor of opening Response to Resistance board meetings to the public.
Friday, we heard from his opponent, Democrat Ken Jefferson, who has his own strategy that combines FDLE investigations and community forums to give the community access and understanding after police-involved shootings.
“As a 24-year law enforcement professional with a lifetime of service in the community, I know better than most exactly how the perception of police misconduct damages the relationship of trust between the police and the citizens we serve. I am committed to having a transparent administration,” Jefferson told us in a statement. “Not only because I understand the need for restoring the trust between the police and the community; simply put, it is the right thing to do!”
A recurrent criticism of the John Rutherford administration from some quarters has been that the trust between civilians and law enforcement officers has crumbled. Throughout candidate forums leading up to the First Election, the vast majority of candidates, while disagreeing on strategies to address that, agreed that community relations had to be improved.
“Whereas the decision of the court was made in November 2010 to close the hearings to the public, I didn’t agree with the decision then and I don’t agree with the decision now but I respect our court system,” Jefferson said. “The law is the law. Under my Administration I will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who will conduct a complete and unbiased investigation of all police involved shootings.
“I will make open to the public everything that can legally be made open to the public, while respecting the laws as they currently exist. And, I will actively work to change the law so that police use of force hearings can be made open to the public.
“While we must abide by the 2010 court ruling [the decision of the 1st District Court to close those RTR hearings to the public] until it is overturned, under my administration I will hold open community forums at the conclusion of every police use of force investigation,” Jefferson said.
