JSO Internal Affairs report accuses officers of giving out drugs, taking explicit pictures of women

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A newly released Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs report accused undercover detectives of distributing drugs to suspects and taking explicit pictures of women on city-issued cellphones.

The criminal investigation conducted by the Integrity Special Investigations Unit launched in 2017. 
The officers' names are redacted in the report.

Investigators said they found four explicit pictures of two separate women.

The images were captured using the "Live" photo feature, and two male voices were heard instructing and encouraging the women to touch themselves, according to the report.

The report said at least one of the officers acknowledged the pictures served no investigative purpose in the narcotics cases and were not documented in the investigative file.

Investigators interviewed the two women in the pictures.

The first woman told investigators the officers exposed their private parts at her request to ensure they were not cops.

She also claimed the officers gave her crack cocaine from what she purchased for them.

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The other woman said she didn't know they were police officers because "she has seen them do drugs."

The woman claimed the officers gave her $20 worth of the crack cocaine and at least one of them smoked some with her.

A supervisor of one of the four street level squads for the Narcotics Unit was interviewed during the investigation. When asked if they would've taken action against the officers had they known the circumstances in which the images were generated, they replied, "absolutely."

The supervisor also said the alleged behavior would affect the criminal cases and they'd likely be dropped.

During the interview, the supervisor said since the incident, more training has been conducted with the narcotics unit and it has updated policies.

When asked about the alleged behavior, one of the officers said they were playing a role and trying to build cases to put people in jail.

The report said one of the officers resigned before the investigation was over.

The report also said one of the officers was transferred to the Tele-serve Unit and his police powers were removed.

The Integrity Investigation Unit said there was probable cause for charges of distribution of cocaine and offering for lewdness. However, the State Attorney's Office declined to seek prosecution.

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