by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
With practically half his staff and many of Jacksonville’s top business and civic leaders on hand, Mayor John Peyton announced Tuesday the City will have enough money to fund the recommendations created by his Jacksonville Journey initiative. The anti-crime plan involves both education and prevention as well as crime fighting.
Peyton said the recommendations will be funded through two sources: higher-than-expected estimated property values — which will not result in a property tax increase — and savings realized through last year’s City-wide reorganization. Peyton cited crime statistics in Jacksonville — the highest murder rate in Florida the past eight years and an increase in violent crime last year — as major reasons he will present a budget to City Council July 14 that asks for an additional 80 patrol officers for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
“This is unacceptable and I am leading the charge,” said Peyton.
Forty will be hired in July and on the streets by June of next year while an additional 40 will be hired in April of next year. Also, Peyton will ask for funding for 80 new correctional officers, 23 new emergency communications officers and $1.5 million worth of overtime for JSO patrol officers in the immediate future. The JSO portion of the Journey funding amounts to about $10 million while the entire Journey will cost about $30 million to implement.
“We have a war to fight,” said Peyton, who admitted given the current economic climate to ask the taxpayers for more would have been difficult, if not impossible. “Failure to address this problem could cause more damage than any economic down cycle we have ever seen (in Jacksonville).”
In putting more officers on the street, Peyton says he is addressing the city’s most immediate need — tackling violent crime and the current murder rate.
“We are going to take action on those who are killing our children and loved ones,” he said. “I will need resources. If we are going to win the war on crime, it will take resources.”
Peyton said the JSO’s Operation Safe Streets, the gun buy back program and Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce initiatives have helped. Unfortunately, crime is out-pacing prevention.
“All of those have helped and all are well-intended, but the results are unacceptable as crime continues to grow,” said Peyton.
Sheriff John Rutherford said the hiring of additional officers will pay off in the long run. But, the need is more urgent and the approval of overtime funding will address that issue.
“We need officers on the streets tomorrow,” said Rutherford, adding his office expects to see a savings of about $4.7 million this fiscal year. “I think this announcement is historic.”
Rutherford said enforcement is the critical piece of JSO’s “PIE” to fighting crime — prevention, intervention and enforcement.
“This community needs the entire pie,” he said.
State Attorney Harry Shorstein left the press conference smiling, but shaking his head. He said his office just started the 21st murder trail of the year.
“You increase the JSO budget by $120 million (over the past five years) and you cut us,” said Shorstein, who is losing prosecutors and can’t give raises to the ones he has due to state budget cuts. “It just can’t work.”
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