Mayor Curry on rising violent crime and JSO’s latest police-involved shooting

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax sat with Mayor Lenny Curry about rising violent crime in Jacksonville and JSO’s latest police-involved shooting.

Family identified Devon Gregory as the 18-year-old who was killed in a traffic stop involving four JSO officers.

Police say a gun was found in the car near the passenger seat where Gregory was sitting.

Police say the teen was combative, and they tried to de-escalate the situation.

Action News Jax showed Curry video from the police-involved shooting scene where shots are heard.

Curry emphasized the case must go through the investigative process with the State Attorney’s Office to determine if the shooting is justified.

On the topic of crime, Curry adds that much of the violent crime in Jacksonville is not random and is gang-related.

Action News Jax asked the Mayor about resources to combat and solve crime.

“We are actively talking about what tools or resources are available that we can implement in short order. Those discussions are happening now.” Curry said.

He also touched on the JSO workforce.

“The Sheriff and State Attorney need resources to arrest these people and prosecute them.

If you go back, before the sheriff has said this, even though I have funded 160 police officers since I got into office, before my time, they cut police officers even though we added man count. The sheriff has fewer officers today than when we started.” Curry said.

Overall, violent crime in the city has been up this year, with 126 murders under investigation by JSO, which surpasses the number of homicides during this period in 2019.

FULL INTERVIEW:

Mayor Curry interview

Cox Media Group