Mayor John Peyton and Sheriff John Rutherford were joined today by John Rood and Betty Holzendorf, co-chairs of The Jacksonville Journey Steering Committee, and Paul Perez, chair of the Law Enforcement and Deterrence Committee, to announce the city's intention to raise the cap on the number of sworn officers and hire an additional 40 patrol officers at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) immediately.

Legislation to allow for the addition of the new positions will be introduced to the Jacksonville City Council tomorrow. If approved, new police recruits will begin training at the academy this summer.

The 40 positions, which will not require additional funding in the current-year JSO budget, will accelerate JSO's ability to move candidates through the 11 month hiring and training cycle and enhance the police presence on the streets of Jacksonville.

The addition of patrol division officers is consistent with a recommendation of the Law Enforcement and Deterrence Subcommittee of The Jacksonville Journey. The subcommittee reviewed data showing that when Jacksonville is compared to other cities in the state and around the country, the city ranks among the lowest in per capita spending on police and on the number of police officers per citizen. After an examination of this data, the findings of an external audit conducted by the Matrix Consulting group and discussions with JSO, the subcommittee recommended the addition of 101 patrol division officers to increase proactive policing levels and help deter crime.

"Jacksonville has a serious murder and violent crime problem," said Mayor Peyton. "As the recommendations from the subcommittees of The Jacksonville Journey indicate, this community must take action now to combat the problem. While many of the actions identified by this citizen panel will be long-term items, adding police officers to the streets of our city is something we can do now that will have an immediate impact. I am very pleased that we were able to work with Sheriff Rutherford to add these positions without the need for additional funding this year."

"The mayor, the council and I continue to work toward my stated goal of the 225 sworn police officers our citizens need for their protection," said Sheriff John Rutherford. "Through savings we have recognized this fiscal year, due to a lower than projected inmate population the first half of this year, I am able to ask the mayor and council to raise our sworn employee cap by these 40 positions and fund them starting in this fiscal year. This is a critical first step in getting to where we need to be."

The 40 new positions announced today represent a portion of the 225 officers requested by the Sheriff.

"Going forward, I look forward to working with the City Council and Sheriff Rutherford to implement the final recommendations from The Jacksonville Journey committees and fund the additional officers, resources and programs necessary to ensure we are meeting the safety and security needs of this community," said Mayor Peyton.   

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