JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sheriff T.K. Waters' full statement, mentioned in this story, is attached at the bottom of this article.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said in a statement on Tuesday that he won't attend future public meetings held by one local group, citing his experiences at past assemblies included systemic booing from people commanded by the group's leaders, preventing "productive dialogue."
This sheriff's response comes after a Jacksonville Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment (ICARE) assembly was held on the steps in front of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's headquarters Monday morning, calling for Waters to meet and speak about ongoing violence in the city.
It was the fourth time the group has publicly called out Waters in the last six months.
The sheriff was not available to meet with the group on Monday, he said, due to a "previously scheduled commitment."
In the statement, Waters said he doesn't plan on attending future meetings because of what happened at the 2023 Nehemiah Action Assembly.
"That event did not provide an environment for constructive conversation, but rather was a staged display in which I was not permitted to fully answer questions beyond 'yes' or 'no' responses. The theatrics of this event were compounded by how I was systemically booed by the crowd on command by ICARE leaders and not permitted to hold a microphone, seemingly to prevent me from responding beyond one-word replies," Water said in the statement.
The group was hoping to meet with Waters to ask him to get involved with the National Network for Safe Communities.
ICARE member Rev. Adam Gray, the pastor at Riverside Church at Park and King, said on Monday that it's an organization that offers group violence intervention, boasting a reduction in homicides in cities like Boston and Indianapolis.
“The hope is you take all of those organizations and agencies that you've brought to the table, and you offer people involved in a life of violence a real way out, a real way to put down their guns and take up job training, take up a new and better life for their family, for their children more secure housing,” Gray said on Monday.
Waters said JSO will not re-contract with the National Network for Safe Communities, whom the agency contracted and shared a "close working relationship" with since 2016.
Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey told First Coast News on Monday that while JSO no longer has a contract with the National Network for Safe Communities, they are still working partners, adding that JSO even hosted a Group Violence Intervention Conference with the organization in November.
"In fact, the National Network for Safe Communities regards our agency's Group Violence Intervention as one of the model programs," Waters said. "The National Network for Safe Communities requested that the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office host their yearly conference to share with twenty-five jurisdictions how we implement effective GVI programming."
ICARE sent the sheriff an invite on Monday for a separate assembly set for October called the "Community Problems Assembly." Waters said he would not attend any more assemblies hosted by the group based on his experience with how last year's went.
Instead, Waters said ICARE members can schedule private meetings in his office to discuss the group's concerns.
"If you would like these meetings scheduled twice yearly, you can make those arrangements with my executive assistant," Waters said in his statement. "I encourage you to schedule a meeting in my office to discuss our agency's GVI successes and any other matters of your concern."
Despite this, ICARE leaders argue that the group has had issues scheduling meetings with the sheriff.
“As ICARE, we've tried to make that appointment for a year now. So we're disappointed that the sheriff was not able to come out and meet with us and have a conversation," ICARE Co-President Father Keith Oglesby said.
Coarsey told First Coast News the group did not have a meeting scheduled on Monday, and their claims that the sheriff's office does not return their calls are untrue.