JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office launched an internal investigation last October after the News4JAX I-TEAM exposed Former Gang Unit Sgt. Douglas Howell’s behavior online and his participation in a racially charged internal JSO text thread.
Sgt. Howell was accused of posting racist tweets. In one, he said America’s biggest problems are marijuana abuse and Black people. He also called members of the LGBTQ community sick and demented, and he made disparaging remarks about Mexicans. Following a six month investigation, internal affairs found that Howell did indeed violate two counts of JSO’s social media policy, but they did not find evidence to prove that his bias affected the way he does his job,
Howell admitted to posting the racially insensitive statements on social media according to an internal affairs report released in its entirety by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. The I-TEAM has learned Howell remains on the force as a Sergeant. He’s been reassigned from the gang unit and part of his punishment was formal counseling.
Bishop Rudolph McKissick Jr., who we spoke with about the story last year, calls the reprimand a slap on the wrist.
″This was blatant racism. They’re putting him back in the system, which means this kind of systemic thing will continue,” McKissick Jr. said.
“I think it should have been called what it was not a social media violation. This was racism. Call it what it is. You can’t fix what you won’t face. And you can’t conquer what you won’t confront,” McKissick Jr. added.
He tells News4JAX he’s concerned about Howell’s future interactions with minorities, or members of the LGBTQ community he may encounter when he’s on patrol.
“I think it’s disappointing. I think it’s disingenuous, quite,” McKissick Jr. said.
According to the Internal Affairs report, JSO detectives found a “preponderance of evidence to prove that Howell violated two counts of JSO’s social media policy.”
Howell was also charged with biased based conduct, and after interviewing 19 of Howell’s subordinates with the Gang Unit, they found “there was no specific evidence where Howell showed biased or discriminative behavior or disparaged any JSO employee.”
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Lakesha Burton says Howell’s removal from the Gang Unit was the right decision, adding that bias is hard to prove.
“With the biased based conduct charge, you have to have a victim, someone who is affected by the officers behaviors as a result of his personal bias...so, with the tweets obviously there is bias in those tweets, but it is directly hurting someone? Is there a identified victim? no there was not,” Burton said.
News4JAX has learned that Sgt. Douglas Howell has been reassigned to the Northside and will work in Zone 6. We’ve also learned Howell continues to work part time, providing security for a local apartment complex.