by David Ball
Staff Writer
Mayor John Peyton should forget about finding millions of dollars to fund more police officers and instead use that money to invest in better after-school and education programs.
That was one of the messages shared by a group of 11 local students in a sit-down with the mayor Tuesday at the Jacksonville Children’s Commission campus.
Most of the students were high schoolers and members of the JAX Teen Alliance, an effort started last summer to create dialogues among teens to foster social change and understanding across racial, ethnic, economic and physical boundaries.
Peyton said he would take the group’s comments into consideration when implementing the recommendations of the Jacksonville Journey anti-crime initiative and in preparing next year’s budget.
“I wanted to sit down with people experiencing Jacksonville from a different perspective, that is a perspective of a young person,” said Peyton. “The only way to change this culture of violence is to go for the root causes. We’re going to have to reach out to the children so they don’t choose a path of destruction.”
The group discussed causes of crime, the influence of the media and the positive impacts of education and youth mentoring. However, some of the most revealing statements and personal anecdotes came when the teens discussed their relationship with local police.
“I experience some forms of racial profiling,” said Wilson Navarro, a high school junior. “They see a Hispanic kid driving a big SUV, and they think ‘He must be doing something bad.’”
James Eco told a story of Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office deputies taking nearly an hour to respond to a stolen automobile at the Asian store where he works. His mother drove around looking for the stolen van only to find four officers at a nearby Denny’s.
“I really felt uncomfortable,” said Eco.
The rest of the group shared similar unease in their relationships with police, and most recommended better training of officers to learn to deal specifically with youth. However, they acknowledged much of the problem isn’t with the JSO alone.
“The music teaches us, especially now that hip hop has spread, they teach you the cops are bad,” said Lucy Malice, a student at Edward Waters College. “The sheriff’s officers need to understand what is being fed to the youth.”
Malice suggested a “field day” with the JSO that would allow young people to see officers outside of their duties and allow officers to better interact with young people. However, the group as a whole suggested making after-school and other programs more available, better funded and better advertised. Those programs, they say, would have significant impacts on youth and their outlook towards law enforcement.
Peyton asked each panel member to choose how he or she would spend $10 million in City funds — to increase numbers of police or to improve after-school and education programs. All said education without hesitation.
“I’d give some to police, but not to putting more on the street,” said Reylius Thompson, also from EWC. “I’d put it to training officers.”
Photos by David Ball