JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Duval County School Board addressed a grand jury report that found that the former Chief of Police for Duval County Schools was downplaying crimes within the district for four years.
A recent report by the Florida Department of Education additionally says the underreporting of crimes is still happening.
The reports raise the eyebrows of Dr. Arena Chaney, who has son that attends DCPS.
“They should definitely report these crimes to law enforcement as appropriate so we can make sure we have appropriate outcomes for the kids," said Chaney.
From 2020-2022 there were around 3,000 incidents and only about half of those were reported to law enforcement, according to data obtained by First Coast News.
The district blamed a 'technical glitch' for the error but the report alleges that's not what exactly happened.
Former Chief of Police for Duval County Schools, Michael Edwards, resigned early last year after a preliminary report blasted the district for “outright fraud” in reporting crime statistics.
“I do think we're doing a lot more than what the letter stated, and I think that is one thing I want the public to know is the letter stated these things about some pieces that were ongoing in our system," said Darryl Willie with the Duval County School Board. "At the end of the day the numbers show that we're actually getting ourselves in line with all the other major seven school districts around the state."
Willie says the district formalized their partnership with The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to ensure that some of the reporting they have is more formalized, and they are looking into a third party to oversee it.
“We’re also being mindful that these are students, and we don’t want to criminalize every single behavior, but there are consequences for actions when you do them in a school environment," said Willie.
The Florida Department of Education continues to do their own investigation into the matter, and is expected to meet with the district in the near future.
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