Daniel Davis pledges to expand police force as he accepts Jacksonville sheriff's endorsement
Jacksonville mayoral candidate Daniel Davis said he will work with Sheriff T.K. Waters to add more patrol officers as Davis accepted an endorsement by Waters in the mayor's race.
Waters, who is running unopposed in the spring election, became sheriff in November after winning a special election when he campaigned on increasing police patrols.
“Sheriff, you’ve asked for more manpower," Davis told Waters during the endorsement announcement Tuesday. "You mark it down today – we will add more police officers to our streets.”
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Davis did not put a specific number on officers. He said Waters is "the expert" and as mayor, he would make sure the sheriff has the necessary resources for the Sheriff's Office, which is the single biggest portion of the city's budget.
Davis also said he would seek to provide employment benefits that will help the Sheriff's Office recruit and retain officers.
The Sheriff's Office currently is offering $10,000 hiring bonuses as an incentive for recruiting new correctional officers this year.
Davis did not rule out bringing back pensions as a retirement benefit. The city stopped providing pensions to all city employees hired after Oct. 1, 2017, and replaced that benefit with 401(k) style retirement accounts.
"All the options are on the table, in my opinion, to make sure that we have the best and brightest serving our citizens," Davis said. "I want to make sure that if my family is in trouble or anybody else’s family is in trouble that we have the absolute best here – not that they are being trained here and they go somewhere else because the benefits are better somewhere else, but that we have the absolute best here in Jacksonville.”
At the urging of Mayor Lenny Curry, Duval County voters approved a half-cent sales tax in 2016 to help pay down the city's massive pension debt. The biggest portion of the financial obligation is in the Police and Fire Pension Fund.
The Fraternal Order of Police had sought in 2017 to have new hires moved into the statewide Florida Retirement System so they would continue to get pensions.
Davis, who is chairman of JAX Chamber, served on City Council when Mayor John Peyton assembled the Jacksonville Journey, a mix of enforcement, prevention and intervention programs to bring down violent crime. After the Jacksonville Journey began, the city saw a drop in murders, though that trend did not persist.
Waters said he endorsed Davis because his "proven commitment" to supporting police along with his record of "promoting intervention and prevention strategies through the Jacksonville Journey is exactly what Jacksonville deserves from our next mayor.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville sheriff endorses Daniel Davis in mayor's race
