JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters defended his department\u2019s response to three officer-involved shootings this year, saying officers faced armed suspects in each incident and had to act in self-defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, that\u2019s had to happen the last three times,\u201d Waters said in an interview with News4JAX. \u201cBut I\u2019m glad the officers are going home safely and taking care of themselves, because, let\u2019s face it, these are all young human beings that are doing a really tough job.\u201d<\/p>\n
RELATED | \u2018Don\u2019t pull guns on police\u2019: Sheriff Waters gives stern warning after multiple recent officer-involved shootings<\/a><\/p>\n Waters emphasized that while the number of shootings varies annually, officers are trained to de-escalate situations when possible, including through mental health and crisis-response programs. However, he noted these tactics have limitations when suspects actively threaten officers or the public.<\/p>\n During the wide-ranging interview, Waters also confirmed he will seek reelection as sheriff, stating he has no interest in pursuing other offices. He expressed satisfaction with his current role, particularly highlighting his engagement with the community and the city\u2019s declining crime rate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I go out, go to Publix or go to any place in this community, and I hear people say thank you for what you guys are doing… and I feel safe in Jacksonville for the first time in a very long time,\u201d Waters said. He added that some former residents have told him they\u2019re returning to Jacksonville, crediting improved safety conditions.<\/p>\n RELATED |JSO officers shoot, kill man at apartment complex in Bartram Park area while responding to domestic dispute<\/a>|Officers shoot man who pointed rifle at them, then barricaded himself inside Arlington home for 3 hours, JSO says<\/a><\/p>\n On federal immigration enforcement, Waters voiced support for allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to cover their faces during operations, citing officer and family safety concerns. He characterized the debate over this practice as partisan.<\/p>\n Watch the complete 30-minute interview, which covered additional topics, below:<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters defended his department\u2019s response to three officer-involved shootings this year, saying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117,1415,2916],"class_list":{"0":"post-116979","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-jacksonville","9":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","10":"tag-jacksonville-news","11":"tag-jacksonville-sheriffs-office","12":"tag-t-k-waters"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}