JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A controversial piece of legislation is just a signature away from becoming Florida law.
Police citizen review boards could soon be outlawed in the state. Right now Jacksonville does not have a citizen review board as Florida’s other large cities do and may never have one if the governor signs the bill now on his desk.
House Bill 601 prohibits the creation of police citizen review boards, but allows the sheriff to create a different type of board. A “civilian oversight board” would have members appointed by the sheriff, including one retired law enforcement officer, to review the sheriff’s office policies and procedures.
President of the Fraternal Order of Police in Jacksonville Randy Reaves supports the legislation.
“Bringing civilians in to get some insight with the community on policy and procedure is a good thing," Reaves said. "But to have an officer, to have somebody that gets emotionally hijacked decide whether an officer did something right or wrong, we just don't agree with that. And we feel like there's plenty of other investigations that our officers have to go through.”
Some Jacksonville activists have worked for nearly two years to put the creation of a citizen review board to a vote in an election and have rallied against the bill this year. Jacksonville Community Action Committee Executive Director Michael Sampson, II, believe prohibiting the review boards will hurt police transparency.
Sampson points to last month’s arrest of former JSO Gang Unit Officer Josue Garriga, accused of sex crimes with a minor.
“I think that individual officer’s circumstances now shows that community advocates were right for years in calling for this officer to be investigated, for him to be fired," Sampson said. "And we were told that we simply are too emotional.”
Garriga was cleared of any wrongdoing in the past incidents activists rallied over, including the fatal shooting of a Florida A&M University student and his involvement in an arrest that left a man’s face badly beaten.
First Coast News asked to talk to Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters about the legislation, but was told he is not available for comment Thursday. He has been outspoken about his opposition to citizen review boards.
The governor has two weeks to act on this bill and it would take effect July 1.