Councilmember Boylan quits committee aimed at improving police, community relations

3 years ago 221

Council Member Boylan attends Feeding Northeast FL Facilities Tour connected November 4, 2019.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In a astonishment move, Jacksonville City Councilman Michael Boylan connected Monday announced his resignation arsenic Vice-Chair of the Safer Together Committee.

In a missive to assembly president Sam Newby, Boylan said helium is stepping down from the committee aimed astatine improving relationships betwixt the constabulary and the assemblage following a heated gathering connected Friday implicit the imaginable implementation of a Citizens Review Board (CRB). Boylan said astir of the radical who person been progressive successful workshops bash not spot instrumentality enforcement and helium doesn’t spot a existent way guardant for tangible change.

“The archetypal bid of workshops proved to beryllium a large accidental for learning from each other…for the assemblage to spot the galore and varied ways the JSO seeks to prosecute citizens and for the JSO to garner a greater appreciation of however they are perceived successful definite areas of our city. In my presumption those heartfelt discussions demonstrated to maine that the instrumentality which I recommended astatine the extremity of the archetypal acceptable of workshops, a civilian argumentation reappraisal board, would beryllium a mode to proceed gathering communal respect and understanding,” Boylan wrote. “It became much than evident to maine astatine our gathering connected Friday (10/15/2021) that astir of the citizens actively participating successful these discussions are either unwilling oregon incapable to show specified trust.”

At the Friday greeting gathering astatine City Hall, the public, mostly members of the Northside Coalition, expressed disapproval of the Sheriff’s Office for not taking enactment toward alteration and specifically criticized Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams for not attending.

“While I recognize their passion, I cannot beryllium enactment to an effort wherever individuals usage the forum to marque disparaging assertions and unwarranted accusations towards chap citizens who person chosen to support and service them, peculiarly erstwhile Director Bruno and others from the JSO person conducted themselves professionally throughout,” Boylan wrote.

Safer Together has held a bid of workshops with members of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and aft those workshops, recommended the instauration of a CRB. The existent reappraisal process starts with the State Attorney’s Office, and past an interior reappraisal by JSO.

In the letter, Boylan reiterated that since the commencement of the committee helium was not successful enactment of a CRB, thing that the Northside Coalition and different assemblage members person pushed for.

In a memo sent Thursday and obtained by News4Jax, Boylan was besides captious of JSO and said helium fears the workshops with Safer Together were “just different workout successful tamping down immoderate effort to bring meaningful alteration to the constabulary force.” Boylan said Sheriff Mike Williams did not prosecute successful immoderate of the discussions and that Undersheriff Pat Ivey professed nary familiarity with the issues raised.

For implicit a year, Boylan had been co-chair of the Safer Together Committee, a radical of assemblage members, politicians, and members of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office moving to find communal ground.