Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters is set to begin a series of town hall meetings across the city, addressing various topics ahead of a potential re-election campaign.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters says overall crime and homicides are down across the city as he prepares to meet with residents during his annual series of community town halls.

Waters will visit each of JSO’s six patrol districts over the next several weeks to discuss issues affecting those communities and answer questions.



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“I enjoy the opportunity to be able to do so, and I enjoy hearing the questions and suggestions. I take suggestions,” Waters explained.

Waters said overall crime is down across the city. Homicides have also declined, with 28 recorded so far this year compared with 43 this time last year. He attributed much of that decrease to a reduction in gang violence.

“Our gang violence is down significantly. That’s because we put the right people in prison. That’s because we’re focusing on the individuals that we know are responsible for a lot of things. We have a really robust citywide community problem response team, and they know the names of the bad actors out there,” Waters explained.

While homicides are down, the agency has seen an increase in deadly traffic crashes. Jacksonville recorded 102 fatal crashes so far this year, compared with 85 this time last year.

Waters said he plans to build up the agency’s traffic unit, though he would not go into specifics about what that looks like.

“It’s gonna take some time, but don’t want to steal from our patrol section. So I have some plans in place,” Waters said.

The motor unit inside the agency’s specialized traffic enforcement unit came under fire earlier this year after four officers were arrested for overtime abuse. Waters said they have not found any more overtime issues within that unit or anywhere else within JSO since those arrests.

“I heard from the public that we hold our people accountable and they’re glad we caught them for stealing. . And that’s it. I believe that we build public trust when we act on those things and tell the public about it,” Waters said.

Waters also addressed the recent spotlight on the agency’s use of facial recognition technology. JSO has been named in a lawsuit filed by a Lee County man who claims he was wrongfully arrested because of the use of facial recognition technology. Waters said this technology is not supposed to be used to determine probably cause.

“You use that along with the other evidence that you have to strengthen your case to go show witnesses photo spreads and do those kind of things, but it’s just a tool, it’s just a part of the process. So we may try to find better equipment and better programs,” Waters explained.

First Coast News also asked Waters about his plans to run for reelection in the May 2027 election. Waters said he is running and some sort of announcement will be made soon.

Here are the dates and locations for the upcoming town halls:

District 5: July 13th at 6:30 p.m. at Trinity Baptist Church on HammondDistrict 3: July 14th at 6:30 p.m. at The Church of Eleven22 Mandarin Campus off Old St. Augustine RoadDistrict 4: July 16th at 6:30 p.m. at Hillcrest Baptist Church on Collins RoadDistrict 2: July 20th at 6:30 p.m. at Impact Church off Arlington ExpresswayDistrict 6: July 21st at 6:30 p.m. at The Church of Eleven22 – North Jax CampusDistrict 1: July 23rd at 6:30 p.m. at Aspire Church on Atlantic Blvd.