JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is under review while on paid administrative leave for his actions in a viral arrest video from a February traffic stop, and it’s not the first time his actions have drawn attention.
JSO Officer D.J. Bowers, whose body camera footage was shown in a news conference held by Sheriff T.K. Waters on Monday, was seen breaking a car window and hitting a man in his face twice after pulling him over for not having his headlights on in a viral video posted to social media early Sunday morning.
However, this is the second time in less than six months Bowers has been seen in a viral video involving use of force.
Both are very different situations.
Back in November 2024, Bowers was involved in arresting a man who was threatening a stadium worker at the Georgia-Florida game at EverBank Stadium.
Body camera video showed Bowers helping another officer arrest Walter Brown, who was seen shouting racial slurs, threatening officers, and reaching for an officer’s gun.
That incident also drew backlash for what many viewed as excessive force, until body cam footage showed that the man’s behavior warranted an arrest.
JSO later said Bowers’ actions followed protocol.
The most recent video shows Bowers breaking the driver’s side window and hitting Will McNeil Jr. in the face during a traffic stop in February.
In the viral video, he’s seen striking McNeil again even after McNeil appears to already be restrained by other officers. That incident has sparked outrage online, with civil rights attorneys now calling for criminal charges and a federal investigation.
The strikes to McNeil’s face are not shown in the body camera footage released by JSO.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney said it’s not typical for an officer to be involved in two highly publicized use-of-force cases that each occurred within a short amount of time.
“It doesn’t happen all the time. And you know, sometimes when there’s smoke, there’s fire; other times, maybe not,” Hackney said. “It certainly warrants a look. And I could tell you, from what you know, hearing what the sheriff said about this, this is going to get that look.”
He also explained how JSO handles officers with repeated use-of-force incidents.
“It’s an early warning system that the sheriff’s office has,” Hackney said. “So it takes every use of force incident that’s documented, but it also takes sick leave into account. It takes other factors into account that the officers have, and puts those and prints those out every month for supervisors to look at.”
For now, Bowers remains on paid administrative leave as investigators review all documents related to the viral incident from February.
Bowers’ administrative investigation history includes five previous allegations, but not all were sustained.
- August 2011: Unbecoming Conduct and Secondary Employment Violation, both sustained; resulted in a written reprimand.
- February 2012: Unbecoming Conduct allegation by inmate; not sustained.
- May 2016: Driving complaint by citizen; sustained; informal counseling given.
- October 2018: Unbecoming Conduct and Failure To Take Appropriate Action by citizen; both exonerated.
- March 2023: Failure To Conform To Work Standards by citizen; sustained; formal counseling given.