10 Point Agenda for Excellence
1. A New Generation The character and caliber of the JSO workforce will be reshaped for performance. Work units will be reorganized based on competence and accountability.
2. Integrity and Professional Excellence Tough recruiting, training and selection are a starting point, but the effort won't stop there. To enforce high standards of conduct, I will charge the Department of Personnel and Professional Standards with independent power to ensure the Sheriff's Office is the premier law enforcement agency in the nation.
3. Tough Recruiting We will compete for and hire the best officers in the nation - aggressively recruiting from military, law enforcement, and professional bodies to ensure that new ideas are continually strengthening and improving results at JSO.
4. Tough Selection Every selection process - whether hiring or promotions - must be performance based. Selection based on merit will ensure a police force of individuals who maintain high standards of personal responsibility and moral accountability.
5. Tough Training I will require tough new training standards. Instruction at the Academy will be by the men and women who are actually doing the job every day and know what the job requires. Police work is not a classroom exercise. Skill and judgment must be tested and honed to acquire competence under fire.
6. Officers On the Beat Policing happens where citizens are every day, in every neighborhood, in every part of town. That is where I am going to put JSO officers.
7. Defeating Terror Jacksonville's military installations, seaport, airport, interstate highways and rail networks make us a critical area for defense against terrorism and narcotics trade. I created the department of Investigations and Homeland Security and it is part of a regional network of officers trained to combat terrorism and the illegal drugs trade.
8. Stop the Revolving Jail Door I am committed to work for passage of the repeat-misdemeanor statute. This would get serial misdemeanor offenders off our streets and into the type of treatment and incarceration they need.
9. Save Children from Crime Tough crime fighting begins with crime prevention, and crime prevention begins with instilling good character in our youth. While the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office cannot directly help parents raise their children, it can and does help steer children away from crime by offering a broad range of programs. These programs include the Police Athletic League and the School Resource Officers.
10. Pride and Accountability I believe in building the JSO into the premier law enforcement agency in the nation. I believe our employees have to look not only at what the citizens justly require of them, but also at what we require of ourselves each day. Under my leadership, the JSO will have the rich reward of public trust and professional pride. And they will earn them every day.