Sheriff Blasted For Not Being A Sheriff

Walk To End Violence Meets Resistance
March 3, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, FL--I recently observed in the news that Sheriff John Rutherford, and several civic leaders recently decided to hold a "Walk Against Violence" in the North Jacksonville Neighborhood of Panama Park.

According to the news, Sheriff Rutherford was drawn into a heated exchange with members of that community over the fact that the police department has done little to quell the rising tide of gun violence, drugs and prostitution in that area. Several of the neighbors regarded the Sheriff's efforts as nothing more than a mere band-aid approach to an ever festering wound.

Since John Rutherford was elected as Sheriff of Jacksonville nearly four years ago, the city has witnessed a marked increase in gun violence, including several shootings by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department itself. These shootings are further compounded by the overtly lackadaisical response to emergency situations.

John Rutherford's campaign was one of reform, dedicated to removing the corruption that developed in the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office during the Nathaniel Glover administration while fostering a renewed faith within the communities at large. John Rutherford often cited Nataniel Glover to be one of the chief reasons for the deterioration of the department, despite the fact that violent crime in Jacksonville has increased exponentially since Rutherford was sworn in as Sheriff.

Although the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, under Nathaniel Glover, suffered such negative press as the coerced confession of Brandon Frasier, and several investigations by Internal Affairs, the Office still managed to keep the crime rate to but a mere fraction of what we have experienced under John Rutherford.

Panama Park is the latest in a series of black marks for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office since the election of John Rutherford. The Panama Park community has been promised police protection, but has only witness the token effort of patrols that lasted not more than a month or two. In the mean time, the neighborhood continued to deteriorate, prostitutes continued to accost the school children, and drug lords continued to terrorize the neighborhood. With that, John Rutherford wonders why he was greeted in the manner that he experienced during his "Walk To End Violence".

In the humble opinion of this writer, if John Rutherford had done the job he was elected to do from the beginning, he most likely would not have received such an icy reception. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Department is only as good as its leadership, and honestly speaking, the leadership of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has not been too good over that past four to eight years.

-- Numinous Owl - The All Seeing Owl - March 3, 2007