Duval County

Investigating how Jacksonville compares to other cities as it prepares for the RNC

Jacksonville, FL — We’re diving deeper into how past cities have successfully pulled off national conventions.

This comes after Jacksonville’s Sheriff told us Monday that he hasn’t gotten a solid plan a little more than a month out from the RNC.

“I’ve put pen to paper on not one contract. Not one piece of procurement. Nothing we need is en route,” explains Sheriff Williams.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was given less than three months to prepare and right now they only have 25% of the resources they need to protect the city.

Back in 2012, the U.S. DOJ analyzed both the RNC and DNC to create a better blueprint on how to prepare for these types of events.

In it, CNA analysts say Tampa and Charlotte’s conventions were successful due in large part to, “rigorous and robust planning… during the 28 months prior to the event.”

Our law and safety expert Dale Carson says despite the time constraints, Jacksonville should be able to pull it off, especially since the RNC is limiting the number of people going the first three nights.

“This is really no more people than a football game and although politics can be a little dicey this day and age, so can football games,” says Carson.

Carson adds that Jacksonville is not as urban or as densely populated as Tampa and Charlotte.

But he says there could be other factors that we are not aware of that is adding difficulty to the planning.

“Clearly there’s going to be a concern if it’s unsuccessful, the actual convention, it’s going to reflect on the city.”

Mayor Curry on Tuesday said he was not surprised by Sheriff Williams’ concerns and that they are working to get him the resources he needs to resolve them.