by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
State Attorney Harry Shorstein believes Jacksonville is both one of the safest and one of the most dangerous cities in the country and he’s got the statistics to prove both sides of the argument.
According to Shorstein, Baltimore is the most dangerous city in the United States with 41 murders per 100,000 people. Conversely, San Jose, Calif. is the safest with just three murders per 100,000 people. Jacksonville ranks with both cities depending on how you look at the city.
“Draw a circle around Jacksonville City Council district 7, 8, 9 and 10,” he told the Rotary Club Monday. “In 2006, the inner city, mostly minority districts, had 90 murders, a homicide rate of more than 37 per 100,000. If these four districts comprised an actual city, it would rank as the third-highest homicide note in the nation.
“Carve out districts 1, 2, 3, 6 and 13, our affluent and rural districts, where there were a total of 10 murders. That computes to a homicide rate of less than three per 100,000. This figure compares to the safest in the nation. That is why I say you may live in the most dangerous or safest in the nation, depending upon your home address.”
Shorstein, who has made a living for the past two decades putting criminals in jail, believes the answer to dramatically lowering the Jacksonville murder rate is to dramatically increase the police presence in the city’s most dangerous districts. He says the increased presence will automatically lower the overall crime rate, which will, in turn, lower the number of criminals his office prosecutes.
“What I am saying may sound contradictory to some ... more police, but fewer arrests,” said Shorstein. “What I am calling for, however, is a greater police presence and a strategy to enlist the people of the neighborhoods on our side in the battle against crime and violence.”
Shorstein drew a comparison between Jacksonville and New Orleans. While Jacksonville hasn’t been decimated physically like New Orleans thanks to Hurricane Katrina, Jacksonville, he says, is “witnessing the escalating destruction of many of our neighborhoods through crime and violence.”
He also took the opportunity to touch on the “rift” between his office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office — something Florida Bar President Hank Coxe also addressed.
“I will suggest to you that is absolute lunacy,” said Coxe of the rift Shorstein contends is perpetuated partly by the media. “Both (Shorstein and Sheriff John Rutherford) are absolutely committed to this city.”
Coxe added the criminal justice system is not charged with raising children, providing housing or providing an education. However, he said, the criminal justice system does get those who fail thanks to shortcomings in those facets of life.
Shorstein said his plan involves four facets and he will work with Rutherford to establish the plan before he leaves office at the end of 2008. Those four facets are: accurate and timely intelligence about specific crimes, who’s committing them and when; rapid deployment of personnel and rescue services; effective tactics to avoid simply displacing crime; and relentless follow-up and assessment. He said a similar plan worked in New York where the current murder rate is seven per 100,000 people — one of the lowest in the nation for a city perceived as one of the most dangerous.
Other notes from the meeting:
• Former Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra Conductor Willis Page missed the meeting and the singing of “God Bless America” was led by Rotarian David Peterson. Page is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer at the Proton Beam Therapy Institute at Shands Jacksonville.
• Bill Gay Jr. of W.W. Gay is retiring after 40 years in 38 days. His guest was Angela Corey, who he was introducing to everyone as “the next State Attorney.” Corey has announced she’ll seek the job in ‘08.