A.G. Gancarski
On Thursday afternoon, the Lenny Curry A Safer Jacksonville mayoral transition committee addressed issues related to police, fire, and rescue. Throughout the meeting, very specific subject matter expertise was demonstrated.
The committee itself featured fire department people, such as Director/Chief Marty Senterfitt, and police veterans, such as former undersheriff Frank Mackesy. This facilitated a discussion that got down to granular detail very quickly, suggesting that Curry will have some actionable recommendations from this group.
Committee Chairman Reverend Fred Newbill largely maintained a laissez faire approach to discussion, but he did start the proceedings with some remarks.
“Safety is the key,” Newbill said.
“I was raised in these neighborhoods; I look at them now, and shake my head,” he added.
The discussion focused on fire, then police, issues.
Mackesy observed that, with regard to fire department work, there are national standards to adhere to. Jacksonville has rural, urban, and suburban areas within its borders; all of them have different thresholds.
One thing that holds true, regardless. The closer a homeowner is to a fire station, the lower his homeowner’s insurance rates are, according to Senterfitt.
For this and other reasons, “closing a fire station is bad mojo,” said Mackesy. Regardless, he added, the next administration will have to remedy overservicing some areas and underservicing others.
He called it “labor smoothing.”
Regarding other must haves for the fire department, Senterfitt cited a need for upgraded mobile radios and radio equipment.
It remains to be seen what the budget holds for these.
The JSO part of the discussion struck some in attendance, such as Jax Beach Mayor Charlie Latham, as a bit concerning given the lack of direct lines to the sheriff’s office in attendance.
“There’s not a resource from JSO here to give answers we need, and there needs to be,” Latham contended.
Latham went on to discuss issues he’s noticed in his executive branch role.
“I work very closely with the police department. A very high percentage of minor crimes,” he said, are committed by transients and the homeless population.
Meanwhile, he added, “drug culture tends to be the major contributor to felony crimes” in Jacksonville Beach.
Mackesy cited a study done years ago by the JSO that could serve as an alternative to “reinventing the wheel.”
He remembered times of force deficiency, when there were “more calls than people,” from the field unit analysis.
This forced the sheriff’s office into a reactive posture, and the solution, he contended, was to look at hard data to get the real picture, as opposed to relying on mere anecdote.
The balancing act that the Curry team will have is giving the career first responder leadership what they need, with a budget that likely will be lean and mean out of necessity. They will have all the advice in the world, but to fulfill these recommendations that are certain to come out of this and other committees, they will need an infusion of capital.
