JSO is investigating reports of the sergeant’s racist posts on social media

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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation into a sergeant accused of posting racist messages on social media.

Internal Affairs investigators are “currently in the midst of an active administrative investigation related to multiple reports that an employee posted derogatory information on a personal social media account,” Sheriff Pat Ivey said in a statement late Tuesday. afternoon.

“Detectives have begun work in their attempts to verify whether these posts are legitimate and most importantly, determine whether the person responsible for the posts may be an employee of JSO,” the statement said.

Ivey did not identify the employee, but media quoted tweets they believe are associated with Gang Unit Sgt. Douglas Howell.

One tweet read: “Americas have three biggest problems: 1) Marijuana abuse 2) Marijuana abuse 3) Black people. This tweet was posted in 2013, according to a report by News4Jax, a WJCT News partner.

Another appeared to disparage the Boy and Girl Scouts during Jacksonville’s Pride Day Parade. “This is absolutely infuriating. These people are sick and demented,” the tweet read.

Howell has since made his Twitter feed private and declined to comment.

Ivey said he contacted Bishop Rudolph McKissick of Bethel Baptist Church, who called for an investigation and said the tweets illustrated why some members of the black community were suspicious of the police.

“We spoke about the allegations and the implications of them, and I assured him that these allegations would be fully investigated, as we have done in the past when allegations of social media violations have been revealed,” Ivey said.

“Our goal during the process will be to ensure that a full and accurate investigation is conducted with all available information,” its statement said. “I want to ensure that any potential sanctions imposed for identified policy violations are as inclusive as possible and that all applicable positions are captured before this decision is made.”

News4JAX reported that both sheriff candidates in the Nov. 8 election condemned the social media posts.

“There is no place for racism or discrimination in the JSO, and I will not tolerate him as your next sheriff,” Republican TK Waters said. “While it is important that the Sheriff’s Office complete its investigation into this situation, I find these alleged messages deeply disturbing. They subvert JSO’s efforts to improve trust and they undermine our officers’ ability to build bridges in Jacksonville.”

Democrat Lakesha Burton said: “As a mother, a black woman with three sons, I automatically thought this was not the officer I wanted my sons to meet. But, in reality, the officer of Police are entitled to a fair and impartial investigation to determine if there is any legitimacy to this complaint.Obviously an investigation will be made and if it is found that he made the post he should be held accountable.

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