Sheriff has "very little" confidence JSO will use hiring grant

More than three months ago, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was offered money from the Department of Justice to hire 15 officers.

Only now, the City is accepting the money- but it’s still not clear if they can use it.

“There’s a significant amount of money that we would have to come up with,” says Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford.

WOKV has confirmed JSO recommended to the Mayor’s Office that the $1.875 million be accepted, and the City in turn accepted to the federal government. The money- part of what’s called a “COPS hiring grant”- covers 75% of the salaries and benefits for 15 officers for 3 years. The City would be required to contribute the remaining 25%, as well as costs like cars, equipment, and pension.

“It’s very questionable at this time whether we will be able to find that money,” he says.

I’m working to learn the dollar amount the City needs to contribute and when they must determine whether to use the money or lose it.  In the meantime, JSO says they’re working “in earnest” to come up with the money.

“We are scraping the barrel, and these 15 officers would certainly go a long way to help that,” Rutherford says.

The grant came down the same day the City’s budget was approved allowing no new officers to be hired. The Sheriff had initially sought funding for 40 Officers and 40 Community Service Officers, but the Council cut that request because it would have been mostly covered with one-time funding. While JSO is recruiting currently, it is to fill any existing vacancies under the current 1,603 officer cap. Over the last few years, the Sheriff’s Office has lost 147 Officers and 92 Community Service Officers because of budget cuts. As part of the budget talks, the Sheriff warned that no new police hires could mean another year of violence in Jacksonville.

“When we had 1,750 officers and we had 92 CSOs, we had violent crime in this community going down in double digits,” Rutherford says.

While 15 officers compared to the size of the current force may not seem like much, Rutherford is not turning away any help he can get. He says it’s frustrating to have the officers be available, but not be able to take up the offer.