Criminalization of color: group hosts discussion on race relations

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With protests continuing across our area, some community activists are working to create dialogue for change.

The goal of the Innocence Project of Florida is to help free innocent people who are wrongfully convicted.

The group began hosting a safe place for people to have open and honest conversations on race and policing Wednesday.

The criminalization of color discussion included three panelists from Jacksonville.

They met together virtually Thursday to talk about policing and race relations in the African American community.

“Police are being called to these things that they are not equipped to handle,” Ron Davis said.

Ron Davis’ son Jordan was shot and killed at a Jacksonville gas station after an argument over loud music in 2012.

“Police departments should be paid more, they should have degrees, you should go to college and learn how to be a policeman and not just basically grab people off the street,” Davis said.

The founder of a group called P.S. never give up hope was also on the call.

“My organization runs a book club inside the Duval County jail,” Renata Hannans said.

During the call people who were watching were asked to register to vote, and to run for city and county offices if they want to see a change.

“In the court system we just aren’t afforded those same opportunities and it’s a sad reality but that’s why my organization is there because I want the young people to understand you are different,” Hannans said.

Another suggestion was to create more training for police and have more diverse police forces.

“When you say defund the police, take some money away from the police department and put it into other organizations that can handle it,” said Davis.

Panelists say the discussion is to give people a deeper understanding of what they have experienced. They hope to have more conversations later this month.

Over the weekend Community Activist, Ben Frazier called on the mayor to defund JSO.

Below is the response from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office:

As it relates to the defunding of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office - Sheriff Williams has, on more than one occasion, stated publically about this topic, “Any defunding efforts would be a terrible policy to implement.  As it is, the agency is working with an extremely lean budget including the recent proposed budget for next year that reflected a mere 0.45% increase comprised on state-mandated personnel fees and expenses”.

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