Jacksonville sheriff candidates vow to rely on trims, not new money to improve policing

For years, Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford said his agency lacked the money for enough officers to properly protect citizens in a city where a culture of violence and a disconnect between police and some communities must be turned around.

In choosing his replacement, voters will have to decide who will best navigate budget restraints while fighting crime and building trust.

Since 2011, cuts of 147 officers plus positions for 92 community service officers - who handled minor calls for service - have hamstrung those efforts, Rutherford said.

"Now we're down to what I call Whack-A-Mole policing, where you knock it down here and it pops up over here," the sheriff said recently. "It's all about the resources."

Police know how to address crime, he said, but for Jacksonville, the mission is larger. "The problem is having enough blue uniforms to go into those neighborhoods and do the kind of community problem-solving we need to do," Rutherford said.

The seven candidates running to fill the job Rutherford leaves in July because of term limits say they can put more officers on the street.

Election 2015: Hear from each of the candidates for Jacksonville sheriff

Four offered concrete numbers; 15 to 80 by eliminating positions and an administrative reorganization.

At its peak, the department had slots for 1,750 officers, Rutherford said. Now, there are 1,603 police positions, and the community service officer program the sheriff has called a force-multiplier is gone. The office also has 785 corrections officers and 645 civilian, according to the budget approved for this year.

About 85.5 percent of the sheriff's $398 million budget, or around $341 million, is earmarked for salaries and benefits.

When the City Council passed the budget, it did not include the 40 new officers and 40 community service officers Rutherford wanted. He unwaveringly has blamed upticks in violent crime and homicides since 2011 on a shortage of officers.

Though there may be signs of improvement in the economy, they aren't robust enough that the next sheriff can rely on an infusion of money.

In interviews and at candidate forums, several candidates said cutting administrators, reassigning middle managers and making other personnel shifts is the way to enhance the department's street presence.

"Unfortunately, we are always asking for more but we are not doing anything to be more efficient with what we currently have," said Sgt. Jay Farhat, who is running.

Farhat, who still works at the Sheriff's Office as a homicide squad supervisor, said he had not determined how many officers he would be able to deploy to neighborhoods but said he would cut administrative staff from five directors to three in a restructuring move.

"I'm going to downsize my appointed staff and go back to staffing levels we had roughly 12 years ago," he said. A director's annual salary of about $138,000 equals the pay of about four officers, he said. He said the department does not need two patrol chiefs, who each oversee half of the city, and would reduce that to one post.

Top supervisors in the department could take on more responsibilities, he said, and still run the department.

Farhat said his family owns small commercial properties he helps manage, which gives him a business perspective he would bring to the agency.

Mike Williams, who was one of five directors with the department when he retired in August, estimated he could add 15 officers to the street but said wholesale changes in departmental structure is shortsighted.

"You just can't say, 'Ten years ago we did it this way let's do it do it that way again,' " he said. "It's not 10 years ago. We've changed a lot."

Solutions to improve efficiency might instead come from creating a new patrol zone in a fast-growing part of the city. Giving more authority to zone commanders to make decisions and providing them with resources that could bring results in both crime statistics and community relations, said Williams.

The Sheriff's Office budget was cut in 2010 from just under $356 million to just over $350 million then again the next year to just less than $346 million before rising in 2012 to almost $367 million and in 2013 to just over $389 million. Increases were gobbled up by ever higher pension costs while overall salary budgets dipped.

"We have really gone under the knife and had to look internally to do a lot in these last several budget years," Williams said. During tough budget years that saw the personnel cuts, the Sheriff's Office also eliminated its mounted unit and pared back the aviation unit among cuts, he said.

Wholesale reductions in the size of some divisions and reassignments are a path some candidates see to increase officers on the street.

Former corrections director Jimmy Holderfield, who retired in 2013, said he would add 80 officers to patrol by shrinking some investigative units.

"It's not going to happen overnight but what we've got to do is put the focus on preventing crime from occurring in the first place," he said. "You've got to have officers interacting in the community and being seen out there."

Citizens would be safer, he said.

Of the 1,600 officers in the department, about 400 are detectives in various divisions, he said.

Those positions would get an immediate evaluation to see which are vital and which were not, Holderfield said. "If I see a guy over here shuffling paperwork … there may be civilians who could do that for a lot less money … and allow me to put those trained police officers on the street," he said.

Focusing on patrol is a goal retired Lt. Rob Schoonover would pursue with a shift back to a patrol beat system to replace a sector system that covers a larger geographic area. It would encourage interaction and improve relations, he said.

To get an additional 50 to 60 officers on the street, Schoonover would cut staff and restructure some other parts of the organization, including moving some personnel out of police substations. Now there are two and sometimes three officers working at substations that could be out on the street, he said.

He said a cut of 15 to 20 administrative positions out of about 50 could save $2 million and streamline the supervisory structure.

He and Farhat said they believe there can be savings by restructuring the department's vehicle maintenance arrangement with the city.

"JEA has their own vehicle maintenance program," Schoonover said. "I think that is something we need to look at and get away from the city controlling the maintenance cost."

Budget transparency is a priority that would be served if the sheriff hired a chief financial officer, he said. "I think the sheriff working hand in hand with a person like that is a positive," he said.

Hiring a CFO is an unnecessary expense, said Officer Tony Cummings, especially considering that the majority of the budget is tied up in salaries and benefits. He said 10 to 12 top administration posts could be eliminated but that the bulk of changes should come from another personnel pool.

"The only way to get this done utilizing existing manpower is to take a look at middle management," he said. By targeting about a third of those positions, 80 to 120 officers could be freed for the street, he said.

"That's where the magic bullet is," he said.

Civilians could take over some roles, such as portions of the missing persons unit where 97 percent of the cases involve runaways, he said. Officers could be moved out of other positions in underused special units and substations, he said.

Retired Officer Ken Jefferson echoed calls for reductions in top administrative staff as one way to free 40 officers for street duties.

Eight could be added by the elimination of two director spots, he said, and an agency-wide reorganization would produce savings as well as establish a unified philosophy. Now, two patrol chiefs oversee three zones apiece on opposite sides of the city.

"You need one chief who can relate to all his commanding officers in the city," Jefferson said.

He said the next sheriff would also need to show a skill for fiscal responsibility. Layoffs and pleas to the city for more cash sends the wrong message, he said.

"It shows to me, in my opinion, that you are not a good steward of the taxpayers' money," he said.

Lonnie McDonald, a retired assistant chief, would first do an organizational review and said he had questions about the need for some positions. He said those would need answering before determining any personnel shifts. "I know there is going to be some restructuring," he said.

Inviting members of the business community to offer input was a possibility, as was scrutinizing programs such as one that allows officers to take patrol cars home.

The new sheriff will also be chosen in the same cycle as Jacksonville voters choose a mayor from among four candidates, including incumbent Alvin Brown.

Brown and candidate Lenny Curry both say they oppose new taxes, while City Councilman Bill Bishop, who is also in the race, is less strident and sees revenue shortfalls that need to be addressed. Candidate Omega Allen told the Times-Union it is premature to say a tax increase would be needed.

Both Bishop and Curry said top priorities would be beefing police ranks and Brown was in favor of giving the department the 40 officers and 40 community service officers Rutherford wanted but the City Council rejected the request after disagreeing on how it would be financed.

Dana Treen: (904) 359-4091