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A.G. GancarskiSeptember 28, 2017

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, Sheriff Mike Williams, and 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson talked to press at City Hall Thursday. And as such meetings go, this one had myriad purposes. One such purpose: to discuss public safety spending in the new $1.27B city budget, passed Tuesday unanimously by the City Council. The other, more holistic purpose: to […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 18, 2017

Monday’s Jacksonville City Council meeting saw local officials address the body regarding Hurricane Irma. Expect a big budgetary hit from this year’s storm, with infrastructural damage that is still being tallied. That cost was buried in the mix of a few speakers on Monday, but will be the long-range policy impact of the storm. The city’s […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 15, 2017

During a Jacksonville press gaggle Tuesday, Mayor Lenny Curry warned of “chatter” heard by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in the wake of Council President Anna Brosche‘s proposal to remove Confederate monuments. Curry comments came during questions to Gov. Rick Scott and him regarding the proposed removal of these monuments — a proposal fraught with controversy locally, with that controversy […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 4, 2017

The dispute, at least in theory, was over window tint. However, what one Northeast Florida pastor experienced has brought new attention to old conflicts between Jacksonville police and African-American residents. Rev. Darien Bolden of Fernandina Beach had stopped with his nephew on 19th Street in Jacksonville to look at investment properties. That’s when an officer expressed […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 25, 2017

A major selling point in Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry’s new budget — 100 more police officers on Jacksonville’s streets — is under fire from the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition. However, JPC is attempting a ricochet approach; rather than target the Mayor, JPC is aiming its rhetorical broadside at City Council Finance Chair Garrett Dennis. Dennis’ committee […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 17, 2017

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On Monday, the cycle begins anew for the relationship between Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and the City Council. Curry drops his third budget — and this time, there is more room to maneuver than there had been the previous two years, in which pension obligations choked out most of the room for discretionary spending. The hit […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 13, 2017

As the office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry gears up to release its third budget, an interesting area of inquiry is the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. A real tension in Curry Administration planning in preceding years has been balancing an austerity-level city budget with the need to ramp up public safety. In 2016, some items were crossed […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 6, 2017

A Tuesday morning Jacksonville City Council committee saw an update on the city’s ShotSpotter program from Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Homeland Security Chief Robert Connor. This much-ballyhooed anti-crime tool does what its name suggests: it identifies, via sound, where a bullet’s origin might be. For law enforcement, this provides an important tool; for those married to […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 1, 2017

When it comes to body cameras for police in Jacksonville, nothing has come easy. And Sheriff Mike Williams has evolved on the matter. “There are just too many issues related to body cameras for JSO officers at this time. More discussion is necessary,” Williams said in 2015 on the campaign trail. Activists persevered, however, and by […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 7, 2017

Cameras will be on soon. And in Jacksonville, the police say they’re ready for their close up. However, at a no-holds-barred town hall on Tuesday night, they might have found the lighting to be a bit harsh. As the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office prepares to implement a pilot program of body cameras for officers, the JSO […]

Tag: Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office
Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Image via AP.

Public safety – and reform – a big focus in Jacksonville’s new budget

Jax Irma costs: ‘Equal or a bit more’ than Matthew

Lenny Curry warns of ‘chatter from outside groups’ opposed to Confederate monument removal

After cop points gun at preacher, calls for ‘diversity training’ in Jacksonville

Jax progs, City Council members spar over police hiring

Lenny Curry’s third budget: Another year of ‘winning’?

Jax Sheriff seeks budget enhancements in next fiscal year

Jacksonville’s ShotSpotter identifies ‘when, where, and what’ of gunshots

Jax Sheriff rolls out body camera pilot program for July launch

Jacksonville police body camera discussion exposes old controversies, trust issues