Rash of Shootings has Police Fatigued - Jacksonville, FL

[rhyfl]

The Florida Times-Union

July 26, 2008

Rash of shootings has police fatigued




By MATT COLEMAN,
The Times-Union


Chief Rick Graham of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has had enough.
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During a news conference Friday afternoon detailing the events behind the second police shooting in a week, he said he has been speaking "way too much" about incidents in which the lives of his men were at risk.

An officer responding to a pre-dawn home invasion in the 11900 block of Beach Boulevard was pinned against his car by another vehicle and shot a 15-year-old suspect inside.

He referred to the suspects involved in the case as "gun-toting thugs" who intentionally rammed their vehicle into the officer's squad car.

The incident was the second police shooting in an explosive week of citywide violence that included 84 aggravated assaults and batteries, 10 homicides and a SWAT standoff.

It was the 15th officer-involved shooting of 2008.

"To say our officers have been busy these past few days is a huge understatement," Sheriff John Rutherford said.

What went down

Graham said an officer shot Jerry Austin McTyre about 2:30 a.m. Friday, moments after three males broke into a Beach Boulevard apartment, robbed two occupants and stole a Dodge Charger belonging to one of the victims.

Officer C.L. Kornegay was the first to arrive at The Palms at Beach Boulevard apartments in response to the home-invasion call. As he drove to the back of the complex, he saw a vehicle moving through the parking lot with its headlights off, Graham said.

When the suspects saw Kornegay, they changed direction and headed for the officer. Just as the officer began to exit his vehicle and draw his weapon, the car struck the door of the squad car, pinning Kornegay between the door and his own vehicle, Graham said.

Kornegay fired several rounds into the vehicle, striking McTyre several times. At the same time, the driver and another assailant fled on foot. Police were still searching for the two Friday. Graham refused to say if McTyre has since identified his two accomplices.

Kornegay was treated and released with minor injuries to his lower extremities, Graham said.

McTyre, a Jacksonville resident who was charged with felony cocaine possession in March, was transported to Shands Jacksonville where he underwent surgery. He was under guard and in stable condition, Graham said.

The teenager has been charged with possession of a short-barrelled shotgun, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Officers also found a loaded handgun and some stolen items inside the vehicle.

Police said the robbers kicked in the apartment door, forced the two occupants to the floor and tied them up before robbing them. The victims, 25- and 26-year-old men, suffered minor injuries.

Graham said police are still trying to determine if the attackers knew the victims before the robbery.

A city responds

The spike in violent crime comes as Mayor John Peyton is in the process of selling his Jacksonville Journey plan to City Council members. The anti-crime initiative blends youth-crime prevention and felon rehabilitation with an increased police presence to slow the violence.

Peyton and Rutherford both lauded programs like the Eastside Police Athletic League center at its reopening ceremony Friday morning as viable tools to keep kids off the street. Peyton said even an increase in the number of police officers would only be a temporary stopgap and residents need to band together around community programs designed to fight this culture of crime.

"We are better than this as a city," Peyton said. "There is no panacea for this problem, and frankly, I'm tired of seeing families grieving over loved ones claimed by this violence."

But changing a culture is a lofty goal, and Rutherford and Peyton both cautioned that it won't happen over night.

"This isn't something that's just going to go away," the sheriff said.

Jacksonville's 2008 homicide total jumped to 83 over the past week. It was at 88 this time last year.

Peyton said he's greeted with these stark numbers every day during his morning meeting.

"It's a terrible way to start the day."

Times-Union writers Jim Schoettler and Rand Miranda contributed to this report.

matt.coleman@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4654

jeff.brumley@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4310

Use of force Jacksonville officers have shot 15 suspects so far this year, compared with 19 in all of 2007.




This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at Jacksonville.com.

Looks like we need more CCW holders in the Jax area to help stop the tide of these thugs.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[dukalmighty]

I have a solution make it mandatory that people arm themselves and train them in how to defend themselves with those firearms,A fifteen year old running around at 2 am wheres the parents,I had to be in by 10 pm unless I was working at that age

[goldshellback]

Jacksonville is getting worse. In the six years I've been in the area, the entire eastside has become a 'place not to be'. The violence is spilling over and nobody wants to know how to really fix it.

[gimpy]

Jacksonville is getting worse. In the six years I've been in the area, the entire eastside has become a 'place not to be'.

I think you meant to say the west and northwest side.

[Tally XD]

--- Never mind. Wrong post

[goldshellback]

I think you meant to say the west and northwest side.

Nope. Eastside. East of I95 and south of Duval all the way to the Avenues/Baymeadows. There's plenty of good areas and neighborhoods, but my experiences and the experiences of a whole gaggle of my sailors have put me in a higher state of alert when there. The Alantic/Regency area has become a place I don't want be with my family. Mayport, JAXbeach, thier getting a little notorious.

Now I'm not there day in and day out, but those are the areas that I have frequented......I'm not even clear on the whole east, west, south 'sides', but I've had to put extra attention into everything around me when there. The bad thing is......is that my family and I enjoy(ed) going to Jacksonville and hanging out, etc.

[gimpy]

Nope. Eastside. East of I95 and south of Duval all the way to the Avenues/Baymeadows. There's plenty of good areas and neighborhoods, but my experiences and the experiences of a whole gaggle of my sailors have put me in a higher state of alert when there. The Alantic/Regency area has become a place I don't want be with my family. Mayport, JAXbeach, thier getting a little notorious.

Now I'm not there day in and day out, but those are the areas that I have frequented......I'm not even clear on the whole east, west, south 'sides', but I've had to put extra attention into everything around me when there. The bad thing is......is that my family and I enjoy(ed) going to Jacksonville and hanging out, etc.

No argument that the whole of Jacksonville has pockets of troublesome areas, but I stand on my previous statement that the bulk of violent crime (murders) occur on the West and Northwest sides of town. Note that the city has always used the St. Johns River as the dividing line between East and West. The following illustration, using data from 2000-2005 (latest available), provided by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office does indeed confirm my point.



Below is another illustration showing the murder locations from January thru April 2006.

[retsupt99]

Building recreation centers, counseling projects, and gift giveaways for being 'good'...these are not going to change young thugs with no value for life or property.
The only thing that will curb the violence is a violent defense. If every attempted car-jacker was met with a bullet to the skull, it wouldn't take long for many of these thugs (even idiots) to find a different line of work.
Well, then we start shooting the robbery suspects caught in their attempts...shoot 'em all. Then we may again notice the tendency of robberies to go down.
Slowly but surely the violence begets a stronger violent reaction.

Yeah, I know, it's a dream...but one can always hope!

Stay armed...plan for quick violent reactions...stay safe!

[gimpy]

The only thing that will curb the violence is a violent defense. If every attempted car-jacker was met with a bullet to the skull, it wouldn't take long for many of these thugs (even idiots) to find a different line of work.

then we start shooting the robbery suspects caught in their attempts...shoot 'em all.

Hey ret,
Have you ever been mistaken for a bleeding heart liberal?

[ExSoldier]

The cops are fatigued because they too have bought into the propaganda that they are the ONLY recourse to violent crime. "Don't get involved, don't fight back, submit then call the police." Typical cop blather, especially the young cops. That kind of wolf behavior needs to be ummmm discouraged and the population of sheepdogs is the only viable group to do so. Too bad the sheep keep throwing up roadblocks to their own safety.

[rhyfl]

So how do we help the cops understand they are not alone??? What can we do to demonstrate our committment to defend ourselves, our families and encourage others to do the same???

I am a lifetime member of NRA - okay, so they are out fighting the big giants. But what about the local issues??? My sons and I are active in our local USPSA club and shoot regularly in matches - loads of fun. I've brought several other friends and they have joined the club as well.

Maybe thats a big part of it - reaching the community one person at a time.

Thoughts???

[ExSoldier]

So how do we help the cops understand they are not alone??? Maybe thats a big part of it - reaching the community one person at a time. Thoughts???

THIS is the key. You want to REACH the cops? Ask the cops to come out and compete. This hasn't worked too well in my home town, though. We have lots of cops in the club but they plain love to shoot and they understand the role of citizens with ccw. But the resistance from rank and file cops who usually only shoot twice a year to qualify is in the form of apprehension that some civvie out there might shoot the "pants" off them in scores and that's something you might have to find a "work around" for. Yeah it's great that you're involving the community but involve the thin blue line, too.

[gimpy]

The cops are fatigued because they too have bought into the propaganda that they are the ONLY recourse to violent crime. "Don't get involved, don't fight back, submit then call the police."

One has to wonder how many innocent people could have prevented their own deaths by being prepared to defend themselves instead of believing the official baloney to just cooperate with the thugs. Here is a link to an example of one woman, a wife, mother, and grandmother who followed that kind of advice and is now dead because of it.

COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL -- Sheriff's deputies say a killer was caught on camera during a deadly convenience store robbery near Lake City.

The victim is 56-year-old store clerk Linda Raulerson. Just before 9 p.m. Tuesday deputies got a call from the parking lot of the Joy America Food Store at US Highway 441 and Interstate 10.

Inside, they found Raulerson shot to death behind the counter.

At Raulerson's home outside of Lake City, family gathered to remember a woman they described as the "glue" that kept them together.

John Raulerson spoke of 38 years of marriage, two sons and five grandchildren. "Useless, I mean got everything he wanted, why did he have to shoot her?" asked Raulerson, as he fought back tears.

"I want this person off the street, you know, so he cannot hurt another family."

Sheriff Bill Gootee says Raulerson "did everything right" by handing over the cash. The sheriff said of the gunman, based on the surveillance tape which showed the robbery and murder in less than sixty seconds, it "doesn't look like this was his first time."

Deputies say the car the suspect was driving is believed to be a white, 4-door, 1993-1995 Buick Regal with black trim.

[retsupt99]

Hey ret,
Have you ever been mistaken for a bleeding heart liberal?

...

[goldshellback]

Saw the video when they showed it on the news. Her husband is showing a good front and my heart goes out to her family.
I hope that finds himself taking a dirtnap soon!