In law enforcement, as in many endeavors, it’s almost impossible to have too much information.
Legislation will be introduced today to City Council that would create a new position within the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office — a public safety analyst who will be paid by and work exclusively for the State Attorney’s Office.
“The more information we have, the better case we have,” said Jackelyn Barnard, state attorney spokeswoman.
The legislation appropriates $18,611 for salary and benefits for three months beginning July 1 and calls for a memorandum of agreement between the sheriff’s office and the prosecutor to continue the position after Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2015-16.
The agreement is to be renewed annually, provided the money is available in the state attorney’s budget.
Barnard said the job has an annual salary of $50,000, plus benefits. According to the memorandum, the job comes with a $24,442 benefits package.
The analyst will work out of the prosecutor’s office. Duties include cell phone mapping and analysis of calling patterns, jail telephone usage and visitation tracking, social media analysis and investigation of jury or witness tampering.
“When JSO makes an arrest, there is still work to be done,” Barnard said.
The analyst will work exclusively for prosecutors, but the position will be within the sheriff’s office Information Systems Management Division.
The sheriff’s office has 17 analysts, including supervisors and a manager.
Job requirements include a four-year combination of education, training and experience in data analysis, research and statistics.
Also required is experience in producing technical reports, bulletins, charts and graphs.
In addition, candidates must have completed 60 semester-hours of college-level course work, 12 of which must be criminal justice, information systems or other job-related study.
A bachelor’s degree with a major in criminal justice, information systems, statistics or a related field is preferred.
Barnard said the sheriff’s office will recruit candidates, interview, and then hire and train the top applicant.
“But we’ll have input. We’ll be working with the person,” she said.
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