JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Thursday night, residents in district one of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, had the chance to meet with officers and ask Sheriff T.K. Waters and Assistant Chief Jimmy Ricks questions at JSO's first town hall meeting.
District one consists of neighborhoods Riverside, San Marco and downtown Jacksonville.
Waters started the meeting going over crime data, unveiling an upgraded transparency page and urging community members to get involved.
People in attendance filled out question cards and the sheriff answered questions on issues like speeding, homelessness in the city, the budget and gang violence.
"We’re tired of our parents having to bury their child," said Enoch Israel, community member with Youth Violence Conflict Resolution Seminar. "We can stop that if we work together."
What's being done to bring an end to youth violence is why Israel came out to Thursday's meeting.
"We are committed to stopping this violence however we can," Israel told First Coast News. "We’re gonna work with who we can to try to stop it because again, it’s our children."
Israel was just one of the many residents who filled the room, as they then listened to Waters address issues like gang violence in the city.
"We’re familiar with those guys, but at the same time, they have rights. So, you don’t arrest people when you don’t have a reason to, but we pay very close attention to what’s going on," Waters said.
Waters shared citywide data, showing violent crimes are down 8%, murders are down 21% and homicides down by 33% year to date. Furthermore, both murders and homicides are down 49% from 2022.
The sheriff also shared that 68% of people believe JSO is doing a good job and 56% believe they're being more transparent.
"JSO leadership is encouraged by these trends and we plan to double down on our violent reduction strategies that are already operational," Waters said.
Waters credits the sheriff's office transparency and gaining public trust for these numbers, but also said the community involvement makes a difference.
"It’s important for us to have anyone that’s willing to help us to show that it’s a team effort," he said.
"For them to show the importance of us coming together and find the solutions and speaking about it, that’s really good for us and I thought it was good for us to be here to see that," said Israel.
Thursday night's town hall was the first of the six town hall meetings taking place in all six of JSO's districts. The next one will be in district two on Thursday, August 8 at 6 p.m. at the Church of Eleven22 on Commerce Center Drive.