Jacksonville faith leaders say JSO needs to take different approach to lower violent crimes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Faith leaders are calling on the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to do more in the wake of violence in the city. The group said the violence is forcing people out of their neighborhoods, traumatizing children, and causing businesses to close.

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The group, ICARE, made up of several faith leaders and Jacksonville community members gathered on the steps of the Police Memorial building, laying flowers outside to symbolize the lives lost to gun violence in 2023.

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Group members said the Sheriff’s office needs to take a different approach to its’ Group Violence Intervention (GVI) program. The program is meant to reduce homicides and gun violence by “replacing enforcement with deterrence.” (https://nnscommunities.org/strategies/group-violence-intervention/). The program’s model states that law enforcement should put groups on prior notice about the consequences of further group-involved violence, and provide support for those who want to make changes to their lives.

“About half of one percent of a city’s population can be driving up to fifty percent of the murders,” Reverand Adam Gray said during the news conference. “In Jacksonville that might be less than a few hundred people.”

Reverand Gray is a member of ICARE, and said the GVI program works well throughout the country, but claims it’s missing the mark in Jacksonville.

“We want our program to have the same results and we think that if the National Network comes in, evaluates the program, finds where the holes,” Reverand Gray said.

After the news conference, the group went inside JSO headquarters to ask to meet with the Sheriff and deliver an invitation to their assembly next week. They said they were told they needed to make an appointment and the letter was not accepted.

“Again, we’re disappointed,” Father Keith Ohlesby said. “We wanted to continue a community conversation which was so important during Sheriff Waters campaign.”

We reached out to the Sheriff’s Office for comment and a spokesperson sent us this statement:

“The National Network for Safe Communities, with which the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office still shares a close working relationship, looks to our agency’s Group Violence Intervention program as a model. In fact, the National Network for Safe Communities asked Jacksonville to host their yearly conference to demonstrate to other jurisdictions how to implement effective GVI programming. That conference was held in Jacksonville in November 2023 and was attended by groups from across the country. ICARE has not made an appointment with the Sheriff’s executive assistant to set a formal meeting with the Sheriff in his office. Last year, the Sheriff did attend ICARE’s assembly. That did not prove to be a genuine conversation, as ICARE members would not allow the Sheriff to provide anything more than yes or no answers to their demands. The Undersheriff would not accept a letter today on behalf of the Sheriff, as the Sheriff is not available today. Rather, the Undersheriff instructed ICARE members to contact the Sheriff’s executive assistant to formally schedule a meeting with the Sheriff.”

—  Jacksonville Sheriff's Office

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