JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The national debate over police reform will take center stage in Jacksonville Tuesday.
Activists plan to rally at City Hall at 4 p.m. before the City Council meeting to demand the new city budget, which allots half a billion dollars for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, be cut in half. They want that money put toward programs that help in areas like employment and food security, which they believe address the root of crime.
However, some of the people who will be heading into the City Council meeting tell First Coast News the $500 million proposed to go to JSO is necessary.
"I don't think JSO could handle 40% of the city's problems," said Jacksonville Community Action Committee organizer Maria Garcia. "So why are they getting 40% of the city's budget?"
The People's Budget, put forth by JCAC, would take money from JSO and put more money toward public works, neighborhoods, parks and recreation and libraries. The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department budget would remain the same.
"When you don't have to worry about where your next meal is gonna come from, when you have a good education, when you know that you could get a good job, you're gonna be much less likely to turn towards antisocial behaviors," Garcia said.
Jacksonville's deadliest year in nearly two decades was 2019; then 2020 beat it. So far this year, data shows a decline in deadly violence.
"About 80% of their budget is people, and it's very expensive to provide patrol services in a county of this size," said Jacksonville Finance Committee Chair Ron Salem.
The mayor's budget proposal includes a 9.5% increase for salaries. Chief Administrative Officer Brian Hughes says "all departments essentially have increases this year," partly due to inflation.
The budget also includes money to create a third Cure Violence location and dollars for the Kids Hope Alliance.
"We have just implemented a program called our mental health offender program where we are diverting misdemeanor arrests that have a mental health problem, keeping them out of the jail, getting them wraparound services," Salem said. "Programs like that I'm all in favor of, but I do not support an effort to reduce our sheriff's office's budget."