Jacksonville Beach police are nearly full staffed for the first time in nearly a decade – and the city’s crime rate is slightly down.
That was the good news Police Chief Gene Paul Smith reported during a city council budget workshop held Aug. 5. Smith told councilors that police are aware that violent crime could carry over from neighboring Jacksonville. He noted that 40 guns have been seized by police on 1st Street since March 1.
“We are about 6,000 calls for service above last year to date (up to 39,080),” Smith said in a memo to council members.
Smith’s optimistic assessment of the current state of affairs was largely echoed by other Beaches police departments during the August Beaches Watch meeting. Atlantic Beach Police Chief Michelle Cook reported there had been a 32 percent decline in crime over the last year. Cook cited numerous programs the department is doing to improve policing.
