DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young leads the investigation and the manhunt for Othal Wallace, who is accused of shooting one of his officers, it’s clear--it’s personal.
“I’m just extremely disappointed that this happened here in my community,” Young said to reporters. “I realize, anything can happen anywhere, but again we worked extremely hard here to try to change that narrative.”
During his time in office, Young has made it clear, he wants to change the culture of law enforcement by not having an adversarial relationship with the community.
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Daytona Beach is in Young’s blood. He went to Bethune-Cookman University before he started his career with the Daytona Beach Police Department.
Young’s entire career has been with the department. He rose through the ranks to become chief.
News 6 recently interviewed him for the new digital show, Solutionaries.
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Young was candid and talked about a program he started in January to get his officers to become a part of the communities they patrol.
“It’s called Park, Walk and Talk,” Young said. “I’m mandating my officers, we work 12-hour shifts, to at least spend 30 minutes a shift walking a beat in your community and getting to know those that we serve in our community because I think that is truly the key to bridging the gap,” Young said in the first episode of Solutionaries.
Community involvement was evident when Young spoke after his officer had been shot.
“You’re not going to find too many of my police cars that don’t have a bag of toys in the trunk to hand out to kids, as we respond to calls for service, because that’s what we believe in,” Young said.
Even in the face of adversity, while searching for the man accused of shooting his officer in the head, Young reassured the community.
“I want to assure my residents, the residents of this city, that even though we are hurt, and even though we are heartbroken, if you need us we will be there. Not one call will go unanswered.”
You can watch Solutionaries on Clickorlando.com. You can also watch it on YouTube and on your smart TV with the News 6 app.