JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police shared a statement on Wednesday regarding the ongoing investigation into an incident that led to an inmate’s death. The death resulted in nine Duval County jail officers being removed from their positions.
Lodge-30 Fraternal Order of Police President Randy Reaves said in the statement he is “confident” the investigation into Charles Faggart’s death will “exonerate the nine officers” who are currently being investigated in the April 7 incident.
Read the full statement below
“The FOP joins Sheriff Waters in his desire to pursue an in-depth, speedy, and comprehensive investigation by federal and local agencies to determine the facts leading up to and including the incident involving our nine Corrections Officers and Mr. Faggart.
We are confident the investigation, based on facts and evidence, will exonerate the nine officers. JSO Corrections Officers are well trained professionals who dutifully follow established policies and procedures established by federal, state, and local authorities.
We want to caution the public rushing to judgment based on social media speculation concerning the incident involving Mr. Faggart who was incarcerated at the Duval County jail.
We share in the community’s anticipation and the revelations of pending reports from the Medical Examiner’s office as well as other agencies investigating this incident.”
Randy Reaves, President
The FOP’s statement comes two days after the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office released a partially redacted report and the names of the nine officers involved in the incident.
“As we understand that a critical incident such as this generates questions and concerns, we want our community to have all the available information as soon as possible while maintaining the integrity of the criminal investigation. To that end, the information in the report has been redacted to maintain the integrity of the investigation,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said in a statement that was published along with the report.
Belkis Plata, the attorney representing Faggart’s family, called the release of the “heavily redacted” report “unacceptable,” and said the family was not notified prior to it being published.
“The fact that this is the narrative being presented to the public, while the family continues to sit in the dark, is devastating,” the family’s statement says in part.
The report indicates that the incident began around 7 a.m. on Monday, April 7.
However, Plata said on Monday that Faggart’s family did not receive a call from JSO until the next day, around 6 p.m., “when a JSO detective simply told them to ‘watch the news.’”
Faggart was transported to a hospital in critical condition following the incident. He died days later.
A day before Faggart’s death, Sheriff T.K. Waters said he formally requested the Jacksonville Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help investigate the incident.
According to JSO, once the criminal investigation ends, the sheriff’s office will also administratively review the incident to determine if policies and/or procedures were followed correctly by staff.
News4JAX reached out to JSO to ask if there were any updates in the investigation, and responded, “When more information becomes available, it will be disseminated.”
News4JAX also reached out to the family’s attorney on Wednesday following the FOP’s statement, and we are still waiting to hear back.
