JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, community groups and residents took part in another Neighborhood Crime Prevention Walk Saturday morning.
Sheriff T.K. Waters attended the walk and met with people in the North Shore neighborhood.
They spent more than an hour walking the streets and speaking with people in that area about what they are experiencing in that neighborhood.
Waters tries to do at least one of these walks a month.
“It was great. Everybody seemed really excited to see us. Happy that we were here. You heard little things like maybe speeding from a few of the neighbors. I heard something that we really need to get in touch with animal control about. Loose dogs that have killed a couple of pets in the neighborhood. We want to make sure we can stop that from happening,” Waters said.
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Residents said they appreciated the opportunity to interact with police.
“I feel like it was a lot more personal. It shows that there is an interest in hearing what the neighbors have to say. They are reaching out,” a woman said.
Her husband agreed.
“He is down to earth. You can tell that they care. Everybody that was here. I was shocked with how many sheriff’s officers showed up and the community itself,” he said.
This particular walk came ahead of the city council preparing to vote on Mayor Donna Deegan’s budget at some point next month.
She presented a $1.9 billion budget, which includes a proposal of $630 million being given to JSO.
Waters said some of the ways that money would be used include hiring 40 more officers to patrol the streets.
Here’s what he said ahead of that final decision that must come from council members.
“Extremely optimistic. I know the mayor’s office knows this and I know City Council knows this. We are not asking for anything that we do not need. We do not ask for things that we want or that we would like to have. We ask for things that we need to continue to move forward for a city our size, for the Number people that we have living in the city” Waters said.
JSO is also in the midst of holding a series of town halls throughout the city to hear how people feel and the concerns they have.
There have been three already and there are three more left.
- District 4 Town Hall Meeting: Thursday, August 22, 2024, at 6 p.m., at First Coast Christian School (7587 Blanding Boulevard)
- District 5 Town Hall Meeting: Thursday, August 29, 2024, at 6 p.m., at the Paxon Revival Center (5461 Commonwealth Avenue)
- District 6 Town Hall Meeting: Thursday, September 5, 2024, at 6 p.m., at the North Jax Baptist Church (8531 N. Main Street)
“The big two things that we hear about a lot are violent crime, which is down and I am very happy about. But we are not satisfied. And then we hear about traffic. The more that I hear that, I use these to hear the voices of the people that live in the communities to guide me on what we can improve on and get better at,” Waters said. “I’ve learned that we need to increase the size of our enforcement unit, our DUI unit, our motorcycle unit to address a lot more of those issues. Jacksonville is a huge place. At the same time remind our officers that are on the streets that it is the responsibility also to work traffic control with traffic enforcement.”