JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office stated that following the completed investigation into Sgt. Doug Howell’s social media complaint, JSO is publicly releasing the entire internal affairs summation.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
Sheriff T.K. Waters directed the release of this summation to the public and media outlets consistent with the high premium his administration places on transparency.
Transparency is the currency by which Sheriff Waters believes public trust is earned. In that spirit, JSO has provided the public with the summation pertaining to the internal affairs investigation with the appropriate legal redactions.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Based on two complaints, Sgt. Howell was investigated by internal affairs for three counts of potential policy violation: one count of Biased Based Conduct and two counts of Violation of Social Media Policy.
Based on a thorough and lengthy investigation, the count of Biased Based Conduct against Sgt. Howell was unfounded, and the two counts of Violation of Social Media Policy were sustained.
The ‘racially discriminatory’ and ‘conduct unbecoming’ allegations against Howell were based on comments he had made (against African Americans, Hispanics and members of the LGBTQ community) on a social media application, as well as a text message thread that included several Gang Investigations Unit detectives.
The evidence in the report contains several screenshots of ‘biased’ behavior, as well as a statement from a former detective that commented on Howell’s leadership.
The JSO PIO provided comments from a former African American GIU member that stated:
‘Speaking/Tweeting disparagingly about any group, race, or sexual orientation is not just harmful to the community, but it greatly frustrates [coworkers] working under that individual. [Statements and social media posts] negate the extremely hard and dangerous work of officers who are upholding the law and striving to maintain the reputation of [JSO] on the streets of Jacksonville, frankly, it endangers lives.’
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
As a result, Sgt. Howell received formal counseling for his sustained violations.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
