JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A faith-based group in Atlanta is collaborating with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to help improve recently tense relations between police and the community they serve.
MovementForward's OneCOP program (One Congregation One Precinct) begins Monday as a group of local church leaders go through some of the training that new officers get at Jacksonville's police academy to deepen engagement between law enforcement and citizens.
About 30 pastors, ministers and community leaders will take part in various “Shoot, Don’t Shoot” scenarios to see what officers face when dealing with public-safety matters, Sheriff's Office spokesman Christian Hancock said.
The Sheriff's Office also is doing its first teen academy this summer to offer an interactive look at its procedures and offered hands-on use of force demonstrations to journalists in October 2019.
"A select group of participating pastors will have the opportunity to observe and actively participate in these reality-based scenarios in an effort to further their understanding of the real-life possibilities faced by today’s law enforcement officer," Hancock said. "... The event will conclude with Sheriff Mike Williams addressing the participants on how the program will benefit our community in the future."
Founded in 2016 by faith leaders in Atlanta, MovementForward calls itself a "social change organization working to protect, promote, and advance the civil and human rights of all people." Its One Congregation One Precinct program is already in place with law enforcement agencies in Atlanta, Athens, Ga., Portland, Ore., and Indianapolis. Jacksonville becomes the fifth city to join the initiative.
The Rev. Markel Hutchins, CEO of MovementForward, said America needs a way to address the systemic racism in society, including racial inequities in the criminal justice system since police and community tensions are at "an all-time high."
That tension was evident last year in Jacksonville as Black Lives Matter protests were held from Memorial Day and through the summer over the shooting deaths of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Ga., and George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police elsewhere in the country. Most of the protesters arrested in the first few events had their charges dropped.
The Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, Jacksonville Community Action Committee and other groups also organized rallies at the courthouse and Sheriff's Office, some seeking cuts to the $481 million Sheriff's Office budget, and demanding more funds for the community's needs.
Hutchins said OneCOP is an answer to the question of what can be done to help police and community relations and improve trust both ways.
"We have to find a way for communities and law enforcement to come together, to reason together and begin to reconcile," he said Friday. "... The faith-based community has the resources and the influence and infrastructure to be bridge-builders, to help law enforcement connect to the communities and help communities connect to law enforcement."
Williams agreed.
"Jacksonville has a rich roster of leaders in every community," he said. "The OneCOP Program is seamlessly designed to make every house of worship a force multiplier in how the men and women of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office can directly engage with those we are so proud to serve.”
The Sheriff's Office initially contacted Hutchins' organization last year to see if the OneCOP could help it tap into the local faith community to improve relations and reduce crime, Hutchins said.
Hutchins and Williams then invited 1,200 faith leaders of every denomination to be part of OneCOP and attend a Tuesday luncheon on the program at the Prime Osborn Convention Center. Thirty of them were selected to partake in Monday's police academy training, then pass along what they learned at the luncheon, he said.
Following this week's activities, OneCOP said it will pair officers with a “congregational coordinator” from each house of worship and work together for trust-building as well as crime-fighting, prevention and solving activities.
OneCOP also organizes crime and violence prevention efforts, public-safety briefings, cultural and sensitivity training and community workshops and forums.
dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549
