3-1 Final Project Milestone Two: Agency Needs Assessment

Point of Contact:

J.L Butler 66197

Auto Crimes Detective

Jacksonville Sheriffs’ Office

Topic:

Community Support

I selected the local Sheriffs’ office in Jacksonville, FL for this capstone project. The issue that JSO is experiencing the most is simply Community Support. When I asked Officer Butler what she thought their biggest issue was, I wasn’t expecting her to say that. However, I wasn’t surprised. When people found out I was moving to Jacksonville, FL to potentially further my career, they were not happy. The feedback mostly came from the people in the area or locals, that are familiar with JSO. The remarks were all along the lines of “don’t work there” “all they want to do is kill us off not help us”. I was so shocked, but I became determined. I want to figure out why everyone is so against Jacksonville Sheriffs’ Office, and this capstone project will give me that opportunity.

In 2019, Jacksonville, FL had a population of 912k people with a median age of 36.1 and a median household income of $56,975. Between 2018 and 2019 the population of Jacksonville, FL grew from 903,896 to 911,528, a 0.844% increase and its median household income grew from $54,269 to $56,975, a 4.99% increase.

With a crime rate of 40 per one thousand residents, Jacksonville has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. The crime varies – from gang related murders to traffic crimes and being in the wrong place and, wrong time. “The areas that you see that are somewhat impoverished or is poverty stricken is where you’re going to see most of your violent crime,” Jefferson said. Those places are often part of the problem when it comes to community support. People are so against JSO because they feel like they are “attacking” them or coming for them as black people. I hate that they have such a bad stigma because when something happens, are you not going to call the police simply because you don’t like them?

This issue goes so much deeper because Officers can’t even have their patrol car parked in the driveway if they live in certain areas. It makes them a target for attacks and petty neighborhood issues. I want to dig deeper into this and figure out why it’s happening in the community, and what we can do to help.

References

Jacksonville, FL. Data USA. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://datausa.io/profile/geo/jacksonville-fl/

Maxwell, A., & Frazier, F. (2022, January 1). Violent crime trends down sharply in Jacksonville in 2021. WJXT. Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/12/31/violent-crime-trends-down-sharply-in-jacksonville-in-2021/