Donna Deegan calls for stronger security checks after activist brings knife to Jax City Council meeting

Police got rough with activists during the public comment portion of a Jacksonville City Council meeting Tuesday, and Mayor Donna Deegan is scrutinizing City Hall’s private security company in the news of late.

“A small ‘credit card’ knife went undetected in a wallet during the standard security screening process for last night’s City Council meeting. Moving forward, we have directed First Coast Security to train their officers on this style of concealed weapon, and to conduct extra inspections of all personal items going into the Council Chambers,” Deegan said Wednesday.

Her Office is also “conducting a full security review for City Hall — including potential equipment upgrades, staffing changes, and vendor options — (ahead of) the current security vendor contract expiring in September 2025.”

The Sheriff’s Office noted that “officers discovered a knife on one of the individuals who was arrested.”

Conor Cauley, who carried the knife and was removed in a rough manner, was originally charged with a felony. But the charge was dropped, reports First Coast News. He now faces a concealed weapons charge.

Deegan’s spotlight on the security company comes as the Mayor’s Office deals with questions about what critics call an illegal gun registry maintained by First Coast Security at the behest of a city employee, whose directive to do such was undetected by the Mayor’s Office from July 2023 through April of this year.

“As soon as I found out about it, we stopped the practice and we’ve now put some proactive steps into place to make sure that we’re aware of any form of procedure or policy that we might not have been aware of,” Deegan said earlier this month. “We’re going to continue to move forward with making sure that the proper checks and balances are there.”

Security has concerned the Mayor for years.

Deegan told local media that as a permitless carry law took effect when she took office in July 2023, her team explored turning City Hall into a police substation.

“There are a million places that are exempt. You know, you have the Police Department, you have the State Attorney’s Office, you have the Legislature, you have all sorts of, you know, different athletic facilities, everything exempt. And yet we weren’t exempt,” Deegan said. ”So, we said, is there a way to become exempt?”

While the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office may resist setting up shop in the building, what’s clear is that the Mayor holds security responsible for problems maintaining order, and that changes are likely to come.