JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayor Donna Deegan’s committee on crime prevention met today to hammer out a plan to make Jacksonville a safer place to live, and that plan could involve the creation of a new city department. Consolidation was the theme of the committee’s meeting Friday.
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“So, we can bring all those pieces together and build this puzzle to make a difference,” Lolita Smith, Chair of the Community Engagement and Crime Prevention Subcommittee said.
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One of the group’s main goals is finding a way to bring a wide variety of services like diversion and ex-offender rehabilitation programs under one roof.
“We have structure issues. We’ve got everybody doing their own thing, but there’s not a quarterback, there’s not a point guard,” subcommittee member Derrick Mitchell said.
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Subcommittee member Ellen Glasser pitched creating a new Office of Violence Prevention, to house city run programs and oversee and hold accountable those in the community.
“Anything that’s related to anti-crime, that’s non-law enforcement related, could be part of that effort and then we could build on that with the private sector organizations,” Glasser said.
On ex-offender reentry, JSO currently operates the city’s main program.
Subcommittee members plan to examine how effective the program currently is at reducing recidivism rates, and whether it may be better for the city to take over the responsibility.
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Making the move happen would fall on the mayor, city council and Sheriff TK Waters.
Smith said she’s optimistic the sheriff would receive the potential recommendation with an open mind.
“I know the sheriff has moved towards doing a lot things innovative, data driven. So, if the data is there to support it he may,” Smith said.
The subcommittee is set to meet again next month.
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Members have been asked to present a report detailing their list of recommendations to the mayor by August 8th.
