Jacksonville’s recently resigned sheriff, Mike Williams, isn’t the only one who was policing the county while living somewhere else. Data obtained by Jacksonville Today shows that about 35% of the officers in the agency — more than 650 Jacksonville police officers — live outside the county they patrol.
During former Sheriff Williams’ tenure, he came under fire from community groups, gun violence victims and news reporters for being hard to contact. Some local advocates say the feeling of distance has been the standard with officers below him too — and they question whether physical distance plays a role.
“The families that we work with have always shown a concern about the lack of communication from the sheriff, but as well as folks under him, in regards to their concerns about their family’s cases,” one of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee’s leaders, Michael Sampson, tells Jacksonville Today. “I think if you don’t live here, you just don’t have as much invested in here.”
Read the rest of this story at Jacksonville Today, part of WJCT Public Media.
