JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Jacksonville has experienced a dangerous and deadly trend as of late, with ten shootings and three people dead as a result just during the week of June 15 to June 22. The ten shootings also mark the most shootings in a single week for the “River City” in almost two months.
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The number climbed to double digits early Saturday morning with two separate, unrelated shootings in Jacksonville’s Northside and Regency areas.
At a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office crime walk in the Northside on Saturday morning, Jacksonville city councilman Reggie Gaffney outlined the need for something to change.
“It’s a mother taken away, it’s a father taken away. It’s a kid that’s taken away. That could be us,” said Councilman Gaffney.
The recent string of violence also comes just days after Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters announced incoming improvements to JSO’s operations at a town hall event Wednesday evening.
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“Since the sheriff’s town hall meeting, it’s been shooting after shooting, murder after murder,” said AJ Jordan, Outreach Coordinator for MAD DADS at Saturday’s crime walk. “What that tells me is we have a lot of work yet to do.”
Sheriff Waters announced plans to reshape JSO’s patrol zones at Wednesday’s town hall event, cutting down on response times. Additionally, the sheriff announced plans to add 80 new officers to the street, though Sheriff Waters outlined at Saturday’s crime walk that could be a way out.
“The process is long ... bout a year, year and a half,” Sheriff Waters told Action news Jax. “You have to make sure that we get the best and the brightest.”
However, in the meantime, the crime walks and other JSO efforts will continue to aim for a safer Jacksonville for all.
“When all this stuff and all these folks show up, it shows there’s a real care and concern with what’s going on, and not everybody’s disinterested,” said the sheriff. “The people of Jacksonville really really care.”
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