JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville faith and community leaders held a press conference on Wednesday to condemn the problematic tweets made by Sgt. Douglas Howell, who works for the sheriff's office. The tweets sparked controversy around the city due to potentially biased views about people of color and the LGBTQ community.
The speakers, including well known civil rights leader Ben Frazier, called for an investigation that digs deeper than a single officer and his tweets. The group wants to sit down with the next sheriff as well as Sheriff Pat Ivey to make sure the prejudice is not widespread throughout JSO.
"Certainly when you have officers expressing these types of opinions that's not good," said Rev. Christopher McKee Jr, "so the hope is that there will be real action taken. That is our belief, that is our hope and that is what we're working to see."
Many of the pastors who spoke took issue with the fact that Howell was leading the agency’s gang unit, while potentially profiling individuals based on the prejudice he expressed on social media.
"I think the greater concern is how do we prevent a deepening of a culture where this type of communication and rhetoric is ok to put out in public forums," said McKee, "I think that's what's really troublesome about it."
"We can not continue to stereotype the black community," said Isaiah Rumlin, President of the Jacksonville chapter of the NAACP, "the culture that has existed for years in JSO is now coming out into the public. JSO is going to have to deal with the culture of the department."
The group organized a community forum at the Mount Olive Church on Friday. The forum will allow community members to speak with candidates for sheriff about important issues, like the tweets.
Interim Sheriff Ivey said the investigation could lead to discipline, depending on the results.
“We’ve had people who had a suspension or lost their job” over social media posts, Ivey told First Coast News Tuesday morning. “We can demonstrate the person is going to be held accountable.”
The tweets sparked concern both in and outside the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for espousing what some consider biased views about people of color and the LGBTQ community.
One tweet calls an appearance by Boy and Girl Scouts at Pride parade “sick and demented.”
Another identifies “America’s Three Biggest Problems” as: “Marijuana Abuse, Marijuana Abuse and Black people.”
Several others appear to disparage the goals of racial diversity, and many espouse deeply partisan political views.
Ivey said the review was prompted by news reports, but is not an attempt to manage appearances. “Letting the community know what’s going on doesn’t’ bother me … what’s important is that it’s targeted and taken care of.”
Official statement from Sheriff Ivey:
“The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is currently in the midst of an active administrative investigation related to multiple reports of an employee allegedly posting disparaging material on a personal social media account. As a result of the information received yesterday, I have asked that our Internal Affairs Unit look into these allegations. Detectives have begun working in their attempts to verify whether these posts are legitimate and most important, determine whether the individual responsible for the posts may be a JSO employee.
As he was identified and quoted in a recent news article, I have reached out to Bishop Rudolph McKissick. We spoke of the allegations and ensuing implications, and I assured him these allegations would be investigated to conclusion - as we have done in the past when allegations of social media violations have come to light. Our goal during the process will be to ensure a complete and accurate investigation is conducted with all available information. I want to ensure that any potential discipline levied for identified violations of policy is as inclusive as possible and that all applicable posts are captured prior to this decision being made. As such, I have reached out to the local media outlets who initially ran the story.
I have asked them to provide any information that they have in their possession, or that they receive at a later date, regarding the allegations to ensure that our agency has everything we need to complete a thorough investigation.”