JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Records from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office show a sharp increase in calls for service at Lonnie Miller Park in Northwest Jacksonville.
The park has taken on new safety concerns after a video went viral showing an apparent Mother’s Day fight on park grounds. Neighbors said gatherings are common on Sundays. Calls for service show nearly half of all calls to police happen on Sundays.
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The city temporarily shut down Lonnie last Sunday (City temporarily closed Lonnie Miller Park for ‘safety concern’ – Action News Jax). The video has gotten the attention of State Representative Angie Nixon, who is working with the city to improve the park.
“Everyone wants to come to the park and have a good time. I don’t have a problem with that. I just want to make sure people are safe doing it,” she told Action News Jax’s Robert Grant.
JSO records show a 52% increase in calls for service this year compared to the same time in 2021. There’s been a total of 64 calls for help at the park so far this year.
The top three calls being investigated by police include: suspicious person, disputes, and crashes.
“It’s something I kind of expected,” Nixon said. “I have been receiving calls from my office in regards to it. It’s one of the reasons that I wanted to work with the city to make this a more family-friendly, safer place to be.”
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The representative said she’s concerned that fights like what happened on Mother’s Day could eventually lead to a shooting.
We’ve heard from neighbors on both sides of the issue.
“I don’t feel comfortable coming here on Sundays,” Terrencia Porter said. Meanwhile Ashley Bradley said, “it’s just a bunch of adults getting to kick back on a Sunday. You have your music so I think [what happened Mother’s Day] was just a misunderstanding.”
In a statement, a representative for the city, said, “We continue to review the policies to ensure the safety of citizens at all area parks.”
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