Jacksonville sheriff candidates speak on crime reduction after two deadly Thursday shootings

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With two deadly shootings in one day across the city, Jacksonville Sheriff Candidates are weighing in on what can be done to prevent crime.

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Murders are hitting 103 on the year according to the JSO transparency page, while this time last year it was 96.

Sheriff Candidate Lakesha Burton spoke with Action News Jax on Thursday at a forum for candidates.

“Formalize a task force so we can address this head on. I’ve been saying for weeks the violence in our city is louder than we are,” she said.

The first deadly shooting on Thursday happened on Commonwealth Avenue where police say a man was found shot dead outside the business he worked, while the other was on Gate Parkway where a woman died from gunshot wounds, and a man was also hurt in that shooting.

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Burton cited several ways on why she says there needs to be a more complex approach to crime.

“More focused on education, training, have to have that communication with JSO and our community,” she said. “Intervention, prevention is key, building solid relationships with all our community stakeholders.”

The forum was held at Bethel Church, but Jacksonville Sheriff Candidate TK Waters wasn’t there, telling Action News Jax he had another scheduled event. When we contacted him about crime, specifically asking about the number of homicides and ways to reduce it, he said:

“It’s important to track those in our neighborhoods that are known shooters and focus JSO’s attention in those areas. We must track criminal street gangs and groups that are known to use violence as conflict resolution. We need to partner closely with community stakeholders and members to continue the fight against violent crime. We must also leverage technology and utilize intelligence-led policing to assist in preventing and solving crime in our community.”

Read: 2 shot, 1 dead outside of business in Deerwood Thursday afternoon

Waters also laid out a few specifics, including holding criminals accountable. He said, “police departments are meant to safeguard our communities against violent criminals and not excuse poor behavior.”

He said each patrol zone should have the proper number of officers for quicker response times and the ability to work closely in the community. He added there should also be more focus on service in the police academy.

“Finally, we must add the proper number of police officers to our agency and stop doing more with less,” he said in a written response.

Burton also told Action News Jax it’s crucial to get criminals off the streets.

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“We have to get officers on our streets get criminals off our streets and identify those who have outstanding warrants and get them off our streets,” she said.