JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters on Thursday addressed the recent arrest of Josue Garriga, a JSO officer who resigned after he was accused in a Clay County sex crime investigation involving a 17-year-old girl he met at church.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Garriga, 34, is facing several charges, including unlawful sexual action with a minor, lewd and lascivious touching, and the transmission of harmful material to a minor.
RELATED: Bond denied for former JSO officer accused in Clay County sex crime investigation involving teen | JSO officer resigns after being accused in Clay County sex crime investigation involving 17-year-old
In a 12-minute interview with News4JAX, Waters called Garriga’s arrest “a black eye on the agency.”
(Editor’s Note: Waters agreed to an interview with News4JAX on the condition that his interview was presented in its entirety. News4JAX agreed to honor that request and you can watch the entire, unedited interview in the video player at the top of this story.)
According to News4JAX records, a total of five JSO employees have been arrested this year and 13 employees were arrested in 2023.
Waters, who campaigned on a promise to make JSO more transparent, said he’s been working hard to be honest and forthcoming about arrests within the agency.
“Any time that there’s a policeman involved, the police officer involved, and there’s wrongdoing, the public deserves to trust the people that are here, that are here to serve them and when you lose that trust, it’s very problematic,” Waters said.
According to Waters, there were no red flags to alert anyone Garriga might have been involved in potential wrongdoing.
Garriga was at the center of a State Attorney’s Office investigation in 2019 after he shot and killed 22-year-old Jamee Johnson during a traffic stop. The interaction that turned violent when Johnson and Garriga got into a scuffle was caught on police bodycam. Although the SAO ruled the shooting justifiable, Johnson’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against the city. The city settled the case for $200,000.
Garriga was also accused of using excessive force during the arrest of Le’Keian Woods, 24. A JSO body-worn police video of a September 2023 foot chase in a Jacksonville neighborhood shows the voice of Garriga telling Woods to stop fighting, following attempts to escape as police conducted a traffic stop.
Waters said he acted appropriately and Garriga and other officers involved were cleared by the Department of Justice.
Waters said he is taking steps to weed out the bad apples that could reflect poorly on the department.
“We have early warning systems if someone gets a complaint, the same kind of complaint within a certain period of time. Our supervisors take note, then we start looking into what the issue may be,” he said. “It’s an extensive process, the hiring process is so long and it’s difficult to get on.”
Waters said, unfortunately, the process doesn’t always catch the bad actors.
“We work every day to try to catch these things. But now I say this, I don’t mean to sound slight when I say it, but you never know until you know. I mean, you never know until it rears its ugly head. Throughout my 32 years, there have been some very surprising and disappointing things that have happened all throughout my career,” Waters said.
The sheriff also had a message for Jacksonville residents who may be disgusted and have lost faith in police following the arrest of officers.
“Well, I think they’re disgusted. So am I, you know, I’m no different. The human emotions flow through me,” he said. “The biggest thing I want people to know is that we’ll sit and answer the questions. We’ll talk. I’m completely an open book, you know, where I can, where I can be. You know, there’s certain things I didn’t answer because of, you know, an ongoing investigation; there’s a process in place and you keep that. But just like I’m ready to come out and stand in support of our officers when they do something, I wanted to get back from Tallahassee today because I was in Tallahassee all day and I want to let our community know that I understand their frustration, you know. This is just inexcusable and I don’t want it to ever happen.”
