Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

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 […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 6, 2017

Last Tuesday night, the Jacksonville City Council approved $2.7 million toward the sheriff’s office upgrading its server to accommodate body camera file footage. This Tuesday night, community stakeholders will hear from the people in a Jacksonville neighborhood where the nexus of violent crime and police involvement is particularly prominent. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the Jacksonville […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 24, 2017

This is a pivotal time in Jacksonville’s city hall. With complete turnover in the city’s delegation to Washington and opportunities created by the new President, majority turnover in the city’s representation in Tallahassee, a revolutionary pension deal currently being approved by the city’s unions, and the imperiled fate of Enterprise Florida, this is a make […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 17, 2017

On Tuesday, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry addressed the latest downtown shooting at the Jacksonville Landing, which has already seen one gunshot victim declared dead. Curry, who ran on a public safety platform in 2015, has seen his rhetoric undermined by not only an uptick in gunplay and homicides, but an uptick at high-profile events downtown this month, […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 11, 2017

The city of Jacksonville and its police union resumed collective bargaining for the first time since November on Tuesday, with the sides starting far apart. The daylight between labor and management was significant as last year closed. There’s less daylight after the Wednesday session. The city made an improved offer, one which offers a bigger city […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 5, 2017

Before the television news had its first fragmentary reports of Wednesday night’s gunshots fired at Jacksonville’s ArtWalk, social media was lit with Tweets about the subject. The fascinating thing about the Tweets and Facebook posts, in aggregate: they were first-person accounts of what was going down, in real time, without the framing provided by reporters […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 21, 2016

According to the Jacksonville City Council auditor’s report, FY 2016 was a good year for the city of Jacksonville’s budget, highlighted by a $29 million favorable variance in a $1.1 billion budget. Revenues were $15 million above budgetary expectations, and expenditures were $14 million under projections. However, underneath the rosy picture, the report spotlighted issues with pension […]

Tag: Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office

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

Jacksonville citizens have their say on police body cameras Tuesday

Lenny Curry outlines Jacksonville’s legislative priorities, talks pension and Enterprise Florida

Lenny Curry addresses MLK day shootings, plans to meet with Melissa Nelson

Lenny Curry sweetens pension offer to Jacksonville police, gives 30 days to respond

Downtown denizens claim Jax ArtWalk shooting was an anomaly

FY 16 a boon for Jacksonville’s budget, but questions loom