JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters and dozens of police officers canvassed Southside neighborhoods on Saturday morning.
The walk took place in the Holiday Hill, Glynlea, and Grove Park neighborhoods.
“You do it because you want the people in the neighborhood and the communities to feel safe and be satisfied with what is going on. To hear them say the things that they said were incredible,” Waters said.
Albert Byrd, pastor of Holiday Hill Church joined the walk and said one of the biggest issues in that neighborhood is speeding.
“A lot of people see us,” Byrd said. “We have Beach Boulevard on our southside in Atlantic on the North, we are a cut through. The people who do the cutting through typically drive pretty fast. Traffic is the main issue, some congestion.”
Mark and Cathy Crosier have lived in the neighborhood for 20 years. The share the same concerns but credits JSO for taking the time to listen.
They said they have neighborhood Facebook page to check cars at night and catch them speeding on camera in early hours of the morning.
“They are loud and they wake up the whole neighborhood. They make one run,” Cathy Crosier said.
Mark Crosier said sometimes they may hear gunshots.
“You wonder if someone is really listening on the other end, this tells you they are concerned when they are coming through your neighborhood,” Mark Crosier said.
The walks started in 2023 and something that’s noticeable is people yelling out to Waters, sometimes from a block away to voice their support for him and the officers.
He said the walks are making a difference.
“The biggest thing for me is to stay consistent to make sure that we visit neighborhoods all over the city,” Waters said. “To make sure that I work hardest to please the citizens of this community, in every community of Jacksonville. And see some absolute changes in our city as we continue to work toward driving numbers down, whether it be burglaries to home, speeding issues or homicide and murders in the city.”
Waters also said they are progressing in Breon Allen’s murder investigation, the 7-year-old who was killed in a shooting.
“We have several people of interest,” Waters said. “Those guys that committed that murder knowing that the little 7-year-old baby was standing there, walking down the street, they had no care or concern for his safety. All bets are off when it comes to that kind of stuff.”