A: I can say that we\u2019re just waiting for the FBI to finish, and the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District. That\u2019s all we\u2019re waiting for. We\u2019re done. The state attorney\u2019s done.\u00a0\u2026 That (delay) creates a little frustration, you know, because we don\u2019t operate as slowly as they do. I guess it\u2019s a nice way to say it, but, you know, I\u2019m confident that we should have some answers coming up very soon. Okay, well, let\u2019s say fairly soon, hopefully before the end of the year.<\/p>\n
(As Jacksonville Today interviewed the sheriff Thursday, Belkis Plata, the Faggart family attorney, said that an evidentiary hearing in their lawsuit<\/a> is set for Aug. 3 in the Duval County Courthouse. The lawsuit seeks to require the Sheriff\u2019s Office to comply with Florida\u2019s Public Records Act by producing records related to Faggart\u2019s death, evidence that has been requested by the family for more than a year.)<\/p>\n Q: You are on the Florida Immigration Enforcement Council, and the Sheriff\u2019s Office has failed to report any immigration-related arrests or encounters over the past year, according to a story<\/a> in the Florida Phoenix. You said \u2014 in your words \u2014 that it was a \u201creporting snafu.\u201d<\/p>\n A: Oh, boy, I\u2019m glad you asked that question. No, we were reporting. Apparently they didn\u2019t like the way that we were reporting. The mix-up was, the officers thought that when they filled out the form, that was the notification to ICE. And so it\u2019s a reporting error, I guess you would say, by our guys, by not checking the right box. But we\u2019re doing everything we\u2019re supposed to do. \u2026 And actually, several of those were even arrests for local charges and detainers have been placed on those individuals. So we\u2019re doing our jobs. \u2026 We\u2019ve had over 2,000 investigations inside the Duval County jail from people that we\u2019ve arrested and put in that jail that were foreign nationals and not from the United States of America. Of those this year, there was well over almost 300 of them that have ICE detainers placed on them. So we\u2019re doing our jobs.<\/p>\n Q: Murders, manslaughter, justifiable homicides \u2014 your department\u2019s Homicide Data Overview<\/a> said there have been 30 as of yesterday, versus 97 in all of 2025. \u2026 But we\u2019ve had a whole slew of shootings, including two women shot yesterday,<\/a> apparently in the back as they were driving their BMW up near Andrew Robinson Elementary School.\u00a0 First of all, any comment on the current homicide number?\u00a0<\/p>\n A: Yes, it\u2019s a massive improvement over where we\u2019ve been. It\u2019s even more improved than it was in 2024. \u2026 Speaking of murder numbers specifically, we\u2019re very encouraged by that. But of course, when you have a domestic situation, domestics have been a problem since last year. That was a big issue. There was some really, really strange stuff, stuff that I can\u2019t really even explain taking place in some of those cases. \u2026 One thing I\u2019m encouraged by is the random street violence is almost gone. I am not saying it\u2019s gone; I\u2019m saying the random gang violence and those type of things. The drive-bys, you don\u2019t hear much of that anymore.<\/p>\n Q: We\u2019ve had 11 officer-involved shootings so far this year versus 17 for all of last year. So that\u2019s 11 at the halfway point. The numbers appear to be trending a little higher, that you might break, unfortunately, last year\u2019s number if it continues. Any comments? <\/p>\n A: I can say that there\u2019s a lot of reasons why people are emboldened to pull guns and draw knives. I think the more it becomes almost socially acceptable to challenge authority and challenge police officers and agencies, then you may see an uptick. I\u2019m never going to tell a police officer not to defend himself or someone else. \u2026 But if you introduce a weapon in an encounter with the police, chances are 99.9% that you\u2019re going to get shot. That\u2019s just the facts. And this is what\u2019s been happening. We don\u2019t want it to happen \u2014 don\u2019t ever want it to happen. Because typically when that kind of stuff happens, it happens because the officer\u2019s life is in danger or someone else\u2019s life is in danger.\u00a0<\/p>\n Q: Yet (civil rights attorney) Ben Crump has been here two or three times, including an April news conference<\/a> to highlight police bodycam video showing sheriff\u2019s deputies hitting Dasaun Williams in November, and the violent arrest in 2024 of another Black man, Travis Brinkley.\u00a0Is there any concern that officers are reacting inappropriately, as Crump has alleged.\u00a0<\/p>\n A: I don\u2019t listen to him because he\u2019s a grifter. He comes to our city. He knows nothing about it. He knows nothing about this agency that I\u2019ve served for 35 years. The men and women that work here, he knows nothing about them. He\u2019s just taking an opportunity.<\/p>\n Q: We\u2019ve seen you at the podium 10 times this year talking about the arrest of JSO employees, including four motor officers who padded their overtime. So that\u2019s 10 so far, versus seven last year. What\u2019s falling through the cracks here that your employees are getting involved in things that end up getting them arrested or fired?\u00a0<\/p>\n A: Nothing\u2019s falling through the cracks. I think when you hire someone in a job like this, you go through this extensive process to get hired here. You\u2019re given a badge, a gun, a vehicle, and you have the ability to take someone\u2019s freedom or someone\u2019s life. So we have to have the ability to trust them to go out and do the jobs that we ask them to do. When we find out they\u2019re not doing it, or they\u2019re doing something outside of what they\u2019re supposed to be doing, I think the real question is how we handle that information. And you\u2019ve seen how we handle it. We arrest them because you can\u2019t afford to damage the badge, which I think is an honorable profession.<\/p>\n Q: Have you reinforced among the rank and file that you have to maintain a professional standard at all times?<\/p>\n A: Do you know what reinforces that? When they see me and the undersheriff go stand up because we\u2019ve arrested one, that helps reinforce it. That also shows the public that we don\u2019t tolerate the nonsense.<\/p>\n Q: In the past few months, we\u2019ve had instances of AI facial recognition that seemed to make a mistake<\/a>, leading to an arrest. Are there any safeguards being put into place, a human being to make sure that if an AI, if a camera, of which we have many around here, sees a face that pings on the database, that there\u2019s a human checking to make sure that this is the correct person?\u00a0<\/p>\n A: We use (AI) as a tool to help bolster our case. You don\u2019t arrest on facial recognition software, ever. That alone does not serve as enough probable cause to arrest a person.<\/p>\n Q: What\u2019s the status of a new jail? <\/p>\n A: We put a Request for Proposal for a consultant to help us build the jail and figure out the processes, and CGL won that. And they began the process of looking at locations and that kind of thing. So that thing\u2019s moving.\u00a0It\u2019s not going to happen overnight. It\u2019s a process. We have no idea where the location is going to be yet. But before we turn a key and open a door, that is four or five years down the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n Q: Are you or your consultant listening to some of the gripes of certain neighborhoods that they don\u2019t want a new jail in their neighborhood because they\u2019re underserved, underrepresented, and they don\u2019t want it?\u00a0<\/p>\n A: I reject the term underserved. \u2026 We put manpower over there where it\u2019s necessary. So I believe they\u2019re served. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any part of the city that won\u2019t be looked at for a new facility.\u00a0 Whether a councilman puts out a resolution saying that it shouldn\u2019t happen or not, that doesn\u2019t matter. I think everyone has a right. Every side of town is equally in the conversation for the new facility. But there\u2019s also ways to build a facility that doesn\u2019t look like a jail anymore. \u2026 It\u2019s important to listen. But it would be wrong for me to exclude those people and include Mandarin and the Westside and Arlington and all those other places because they feel like they shouldn\u2019t have it over there.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260709_094445.webp\")
The current Duval County jail stands behind the Police Memorial Building on East Bay Street. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260709_094450.webp\")
The current Police Memorial Building was erected 52 years ago. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today<\/p>\n